Abstract
The benefits of group living have primarily been investigated in species which form permanent groups. There are, however, several species that forage alone but still form groups that share the same territory and nest. One of these group-living solitary foragers is the striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) from the Succulent Karoo in South Africa. I performed field experiments on this species to investigate the hypothesis that mice benefit from group living by exchanging information in social groups about the location and availability of food sources. Presenting additional food sources in the field altered individual foraging decisions. A mouse that found food at one location visited it again the next day; other mice of the same group did not arrive, however. Establishment of permanent feeding stations for 1 week affected individual foraging even 1 week after termination of feeding, a result demonstrating the strong effect trapping can have on the behaviour of study species. Results from this study suggest that information transfer about good food sources was of little importance in the evolution of group living in the striped mouse.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Northern Cape Conservation for their assistance and the staff at Goegap Nature Reserve for their support during the study. I am grateful to D. Stuartfox for comments and for correcting the English. Comments by two referees significantly improved the manuscript. This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Naturwissenschaften, the Zürcher Hochschulverein (FAN), and the University of the Witwatersrand.
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Schradin, C. Information transfer about food locations is not a benefit of group living in the solitary foraging striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio). J Ethol 25, 83–86 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-006-0205-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-006-0205-7