A behavioral syndrome of competitiveness in a non-social rodent

Animals compete for limited resources and the outcome of intraspecific competition should be determined by individual variation in behavioral traits, such as aggressiveness, and dominance status. Consistent among-individual differences in behavior likely contribute to competitiveness and predispose individuals to acquire specific dominance ranks. In a step towards better understanding these functional links, we studied trait integration into behavioral syndromes, using 26 captive male bank voles (Myodes glareolus). We repeatedly assessed boldness in an emergence test, exploration in an open-field test, aggressiveness in staged dyadic encounters, and the among-individual correlations between these behaviors. We further related these personality traits to dominance rank, from quantifying urine marking value (UMV), as marking in bank voles is related to dominance rank. We found repeatable variations in boldness, exploration, aggressiveness, and UMV, which were correlated at the among-indiv..., Study animals  We conducted this study on captive animals from July-February of 2021 and 2022 in the animal facilities of the Animal Ecology Group in Potsdam (Germany). Study animals were male bank voles (Myodes glareolus) captured from the wild in a small forest patch near Potsdam (Germany)(n = 20) or born in captivity (n = 6) as F1 of wild-caught parents. Prior to the experiments, all animals spent 3 to 5 months in the laboratory and were sexually mature. Voles were housed in standard polycarbonate cages (type III and type IV) provided with wood shavings and hay as bedding, cardboard rolls as shelter, and a running disk for enrichment. Water and food pellets (Ssniff, NM, V 1244-0) were available ad libitum.  Personality assessment  Emergence test and open-field test  We tested 26 males twice in two established behavioral tests to quantify among-individual differences in activity, exploration, and boldness (Mazza et al 2019, Schirmer et al 2019). A circular arena (100 cm diameter ..., , # Data from: A behavioral syndrome of competitiveness in a non-social rodent [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61) ## Description of the data and file structure \# Data from: A behavioral syndrome of competitiveness in a non-social rodent \[Access this dataset on Dryad]([https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61)) The dataset contains four excel files of data from behavioral assessment of and one excel file of body metrics of male bank voles. All datasets have a “data” tab for the data and a “labels” tab explaining the data that can be found under the column names in the “data” tab. The individual identification “id” is the same across all files. The file names “emergence”, “open-field”, “SDE”, and “UMV” correspond to the assays explained in detail below. The “body metrics” dataset corresponds to the “body condition” section explained below. The body condition is also present in the SDE dataset. Sta...动物会为有限资源展开竞争，种内竞争的结果应由个体行为性状（如攻击性）与优势地位的差异所决定。个体间稳定存在的行为差异，或可提升竞争能力，并使个体倾向于获得特定的优势等级。为深入阐明这类功能关联，本研究以26只圈养雄性普通田鼠（*Myodes glareolus*）为对象，探究性状整合为行为综合征的机制。我们通过重复开展的行为测试：分别利用出笼测试（emergence test）、开放场测试（open-field test）以及标准化成对互动实验来评估其勇敢性、探索行为与攻击性，并分析这些行为之间的个体间相关性。我们进一步通过量化尿液标记值（urine marking value, UMV），将这些人格性状与优势等级相关联，因为普通田鼠的尿液标记行为与其优势地位存在关联。本研究发现普通田鼠的勇敢性、探索行为、攻击性以及尿液标记值均存在可重复的个体差异，且这些性状在个体间存在相关性…… ## 实验动物 本研究于2021年7月至2022年2月期间，在德国波茨坦动物生态学小组的动物实验设施中开展。实验动物为20只在德国波茨坦附近的小型森林斑块中野外捕获的雄性普通田鼠，以及6只由野外捕获亲本繁育的F1代圈养雄性普通田鼠。所有实验动物在正式实验前均在实验室饲养3至5个月，已达到性成熟。田鼠饲养于标准聚碳酸酯笼具（III型与IV型）中，垫料为木屑与干草，提供纸筒作为遮蔽物，并配备跑轮以丰富环境。水与饲料颗粒（Ssniff, NM, V 1244-0）自由取食。 ## 人格性状评估 ### 出笼测试与开放场测试 我们采用两套已发表的行为测试方法，对26只雄性田鼠各进行两次测试，以量化其活动、探索与勇敢性的个体间差异（Mazza等人，2019；Schirmer等人，2019）。圆形试验箱（直径100 cm……） # 数据集来源：非社会性啮齿动物的竞争行为综合征 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61) ## 数据与文件结构说明 # 数据集来源：非社会性啮齿动物的竞争行为综合征 [在Dryad平台获取此数据集](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dncjsxm61) 本数据集包含5个Excel文件：4个为雄性普通田鼠的行为评估数据，1个为其身体测量指标数据。所有数据集均包含"data"与"labels"两个工作表："data"工作表存储原始数据，"labels"工作表对"data"工作表中各列的字段含义进行解释。所有文件中均包含统一的个体识别号"id"。文件名为"emergence"、"open-field"、"SDE"与"UMV"的文件分别对应下文详细说明的各项行为实验。"body metrics"数据集对应下文所述的"body condition"（身体状况）部分。身体状况数据也存在于SDE数据集中。后续内容……