A New Experimental Environment for Assessing the Vertical Movement Capabilities of Wild Rodent Species

Animals of most vertebrate species navigate in complex three-dimensional environments in their natural habitats. Although the majority of terrestrial rodents are burrowing animals, some inhabit forest biotopes and are captured in traps placed in the arboreal layer. Present publication aims to describe a simple experimental setup for study vertical activity and other behaviour in several rodent species from natural populations in a laboratory setting. Also, the results of these tests are presented. Food reinforcement and the induction of active avoidance responses were employed to stimulate climbing behaviour in these subjects. The apparatus developed proved to be suitable for assessing the ability of murine rodents to move vertically along objects of varying textures. These tests demonstrated that rodent species inhabiting forest biotopes appear to engage in vertical locomotion more frequently and are therefore better adapted to it than species residing in open spaces on the soil surfaces. We hope that the device described will be useful for studying the “3-dimensional” spatial behaviour of other rodent species.

wild rodents, locomotor activity, vertical activity, ecology