A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions

Abstract Rodents are among the most successful mammals because they have the ability to adapt to a broad range of environmental conditions. Here, we present the first record of a previously unknown thermal adaptation to cold stress that repeatedly occurred in two species of non-commensal rodents (Ap...

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Autores principales:	Rafal Stryjek, Michael H. Parsons, Piotr Bebas
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e25eaa07a979447e8c34499a7b8495e0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e25eaa07a979447e8c34499a7b8495e02021-11-21T12:19:10ZA newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions10.1038/s41598-021-01833-y2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/e25eaa07a979447e8c34499a7b8495e02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01833-yhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Rodents are among the most successful mammals because they have the ability to adapt to a broad range of environmental conditions. Here, we present the first record of a previously unknown thermal adaptation to cold stress that repeatedly occurred in two species of non-commensal rodents (Apodemus flavicollis and Apodemus agrarius). The classic rodent literature implies that rodents prevent heat loss via a broad range of behavioral adaptations including sheltering, sitting on their tails, curling into a ball, or huddling with conspecifics. Here, we have repeatedly observed an undescribed behavior which we refer to as “tail-belting”. This behavior was performed under cold stress, whereby animals lift and curl the tail medially, before resting it on the dorsal, medial rump while feeding or resting. We documented 115 instances of the tail-belting behavior; 38 in Apodemus agrarius, and 77 in Apodemus flavicollis. Thermal imaging data show the tails remained near ambient temperature even when temperatures were below 0 °C. Since the tail-belting occurred only when the temperature dropped below − 6.9 °C (for A. flavicollis) and − 9.5 °C (for A. agrarius), we surmise that frostbite prevention may be the primary reason for this adaptation. It is likely that tail-belting has not previously been documented because free-ranging mice are rarely-recorded in the wild under extreme cold conditions. Given that these animals are so closely-related to laboratory rodents, this knowledge could potentially be relevant to researchers in various disciplines. We conclude by setting several directions for future research in this area.Rafal StryjekMichael H. ParsonsPiotr BebasNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Rafal Stryjek Michael H. Parsons Piotr Bebas A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
description	Abstract Rodents are among the most successful mammals because they have the ability to adapt to a broad range of environmental conditions. Here, we present the first record of a previously unknown thermal adaptation to cold stress that repeatedly occurred in two species of non-commensal rodents (Apodemus flavicollis and Apodemus agrarius). The classic rodent literature implies that rodents prevent heat loss via a broad range of behavioral adaptations including sheltering, sitting on their tails, curling into a ball, or huddling with conspecifics. Here, we have repeatedly observed an undescribed behavior which we refer to as “tail-belting”. This behavior was performed under cold stress, whereby animals lift and curl the tail medially, before resting it on the dorsal, medial rump while feeding or resting. We documented 115 instances of the tail-belting behavior; 38 in Apodemus agrarius, and 77 in Apodemus flavicollis. Thermal imaging data show the tails remained near ambient temperature even when temperatures were below 0 °C. Since the tail-belting occurred only when the temperature dropped below − 6.9 °C (for A. flavicollis) and − 9.5 °C (for A. agrarius), we surmise that frostbite prevention may be the primary reason for this adaptation. It is likely that tail-belting has not previously been documented because free-ranging mice are rarely-recorded in the wild under extreme cold conditions. Given that these animals are so closely-related to laboratory rodents, this knowledge could potentially be relevant to researchers in various disciplines. We conclude by setting several directions for future research in this area.
format	article
author	Rafal Stryjek Michael H. Parsons Piotr Bebas
author_facet	Rafal Stryjek Michael H. Parsons Piotr Bebas
author_sort	Rafal Stryjek
title	A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
title_short	A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
title_full	A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
title_fullStr	A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
title_full_unstemmed	A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
title_sort	newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e25eaa07a979447e8c34499a7b8495e0
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A newly discovered behavior (‘tail-belting’) among wild rodents in sub zero conditions

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