RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Dynamic changes to signal allocation rules in response to variable social environments in house mice
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.01.28.478242
DO 10.1101/2022.01.28.478242
A1 Caitlin H Miller
A1 Matthew F Hillock
A1 Jay Yang
A1 Brandon Carlson-Clarke
A1 Klaudio Haxhillari
A1 Annie Y Lee
A1 Melissa R Warden
A1 Michael J Sheehan
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/28/2022.01.28.478242.abstract
AB Male house mice use metabolically costly urine marks in intrasexual competition and mate attraction. Given the high costs of signaling and the depletable nature of urine reserves, males should dynamically modulate signal allocation as the social landscape is updated with new information. We investigate which aspects of male urine marking behavior are static or dynamic in light of changing social environments. To do this, we use thermal imaging to capture spatiotemporal data of urine deposition decisions. This novel method reveals fine-scale variation in urinary motor patterns in response to competition and social odors. Males demonstrate striking winner-loser effects in both the total allocation effort and temporal dynamics of scent marking. We find that competitive experience primes key temporal features of signal allocation and modulates responses to familiar and unfamiliar male scents. Males adjust their signaling effort, mark latency, and scent mark rhythm, depending on the scent identities present in the environment. Winners dramatically increase marking effort toward unfamiliar compared to familiar male scent, consistent with a ‘dear enemy’ effect. Losers, in contrast, greatly reduce marking to unfamiliar scent but increase marking effort to the scent of their familiar rival, consistent with a ‘nasty neighbor’ effect. Counter to the high lability of many features, the initial signal investment pattern influences allocation decisions days later, revealing the possibility of alternative scent mark strategies among competitive males. Thus, different features of urine mark signal allocation vary in responsiveness to fluctuating social landscapes, suggesting there are multiple distinct behavioral modules underlying marking behavior.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.