Genes and the environment interact to produce complex, environmentally relevant behaviors. We tested whether the behavior of two sister species of striped mice originating from different habitats (semi-arid Rhabdomys pumilio and grassland R. bechuanae) are modulated by the early social rearing environment. We cross-fostered pups between the species, and at adulthood tested their exploratory behavior and anxiety in open field and novel object tests, and a plus maze. We expected that the early social rearing environment would alter the phenotype of both species. Regardless of treatment, R. bechuanae were more exploratory and slightly less anxious than R. pumilio. However, fostered individuals of both species showed no changes in exploratory and anxiety responses. Thus there may be a genetic influence on behavioral development, or the early rearing environments of R. pumilio and R. bechuanae are not sufficiently different to alter behavior.

基因和环境相互作用以产生复杂的、与环境相关的行为。我们测试了两种来自不同栖息地（半干旱Rhabdomys pumilio和草原R. bechuanae）的条纹小鼠姐妹物种的行为是否受到早期社会饲养环境的调节。我们在不同物种之间交叉抚养幼崽，并在成年后在野外和新物体测试以及十字迷宫中测试它们的探索行为和焦虑。我们预计早期的社会饲养环境会改变这两个物种的表型。无论治疗如何，R. bechuanae都比R. pumilio更具探索性，焦虑程度略低. 然而，两个物种的受养个体在探索和焦虑反应方面没有表现出任何变化。因此，行为发育可能存在遗传影响，或者R. pumilio和R. bechuanae的早期饲养环境差异不足以改变行为。