Human settlements represent a specific environment where commensal animals are exposed to different selective pressures than their wild-living conspecifics. Despite the importance of commensal rodents for human health and economy, little is known about how a transition to a commensal way of life changes the behaviour of the animals. We tested twelve populations of spiny mice (Acomys spp.) in two open field-type tests - a vertical test and a hole board test. In the vertical test, a wire mesh for climbing was offered to spiny mice. We used a multipopulation approach using two commensal and ten non-commensal spiny mouse populations to account for inter-population variability. We aimed to investigate whether there are differences in behaviour of commensal and non-commensal populations with special regard to their exploratory activity both on the ground and on the wire mesh. We found that all non-commensal populations behaved similarly despite their long separate evolutionary histories. Contrary, the commensal populations were less exploratory on the ground in both tests. We concluded that this change was associated with their transition to commensalism. This shows that selective pressures of the commensal environment are able to induce noticeable changes in behaviour after a very short evolutionary time.

中文翻译：

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在地面和高处：共生和非共生多刺小鼠的探索活动是否不同？

人类住区代表了一个特定的环境，在这个环境中，共生动物与它们的野生同种动物面临不同的选择压力。尽管共生啮齿动物对人类健康和经济很重要，但人们对向共生生活方式的转变如何改变动物的行为知之甚少。我们在两个露天类型的测试中测试了十二个多刺小鼠群 (Acomys spp.) - 垂直测试和孔板测试。在垂直测试中，向多刺小鼠提供了用于攀爬的金属丝网。我们使用多种群方法使用两个共生和十个非共生多刺小鼠种群来解释种群间的变异性。我们旨在调查共生和非共生种群的行为是否存在差异，特别是它们在地面和金属丝网上的探索活动。我们发现所有非共生种群的行为都相似，尽管它们的进化历史不同。相反，在两次测试中，共生种群在地面上的探索性较低。我们得出的结论是，这种变化与它们向共生主义的过渡有关。这表明共生环境的选择压力能够在很短的进化时间后引起显着的行为变化。在两次测试中，共生种群在实地的探索性较低。我们得出的结论是，这种变化与它们向共生主义的过渡有关。这表明共生环境的选择压力能够在很短的进化时间后引起显着的行为变化。在两次测试中，共生种群在实地的探索性较低。我们得出的结论是，这种变化与它们向共生主义的过渡有关。这表明共生环境的选择压力能够在很短的进化时间后引起显着的行为变化。