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Meadow voles and prairie voles differ in the percentage of conspecific marks they over-mark

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Abstract

Many terrestrial mammals scent mark in areas containing the scent marks of conspecifics, and thus, may deposit their own scent marks on top of those that were deposited previously by conspecifics. This phenomenon, known as over-marking appears to play a role in same-sex competition or mate attraction. The present study determines whether meadow and prairie voles avoid over-marking the scent marks of conspecifics, target the scent marks of conspecifics and over-mark them, or randomly over-mark the scent marks of conspecifics. The data show that meadow and prairie voles adjust the number and location of scent marks that they deposit in areas marked previously by particular conspecifics. Male and female meadow and prairie voles target the scent marks of opposite-sex conspecifics and over-mark them. Female meadow and prairie voles also target the scent marks of female conspecifics. In contrast, male meadow and prairie voles over-mark the scent marks of male conspecifics in a random manner. By differentially over-marking the scent marks of conspecifics, voles may be able to communicate particular information to a variety of conspecifics.

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Acknowledgements

We thank G. Mittleman and S. Franklin for their statistical advice and J. Wolff, S. Thomas, S. Schoech, L. Drickamer, M. Parris, A. Pierce, and J. delBarco-Trillo for providing discussion or commenting on this manuscript. National Science Foundation grant 94-21529 and National Institutes of Health grants AG1659401 to M. Ferkin and by National Institutes of Health grant MH61971 to the Tennessee Mouse Genome Consortium supported the research. This research was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Memphis and complies with the current laws of animal welfare in the United States

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Ellington Hall, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, 38152, USA

    Michael H. Ferkin, Hong Z. Li & Stuart T. Leonard

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  1. Michael H. Ferkin
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  2. Hong Z. Li
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  3. Stuart T. Leonard
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Correspondence to Michael H. Ferkin.

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Communicated by K. Kotrschal

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Ferkin, M.H., Li, H.Z. & Leonard, S.T. Meadow voles and prairie voles differ in the percentage of conspecific marks they over-mark. acta ethol 7, 1–7 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-004-0089-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-004-0089-x

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