The effect of the type of opponent in tests of murine aggression

The interactions between isolated resident mice and anosmic, juvenile, submissive and dominant intruders were studied; the responses of intruder mice to being attacked and the distribution of bites on these subjects were investigated. Anosmic, juvenile and (trained) submissive intruders did not attack residents; they did, however, show differences both in thir responses to being attacked and their ability to avoid bites to particular regions of their body surface. These differences are likely to make it difficult to extrapolate between tests that employ different types of intruder. Trained dominant intruders showed substantial attack on resident mice and a very different pattern of attack was generated by this type of encounter. The study confirms that, while "standard opponents" are useful means of assessing aggressive motivation, the pattern of fighting they produce differs depending on their background.