Consistent individual differences in standard exploration tasks in the black rat (Rattus rattus)

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Animal Behavior
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Environmental fluctuations and human pest management create selection pressures on animal behavior.
• Exploratory behavior and boldness are key traits influenced by risk-benefit assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if exploratory behavior and boldness in wild black rats (Rattus rattus) represent personality traits.
• To determine if these behaviors change over time and are influenced by heterogeneous selection pressures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized open field and hole board tests to assess exploratory behavior and boldness in wild black rats.
• Analyzed repeatability and cross-context correlations of behavioral variables.
• Examined the influence of litter identity on behavioral traits.

Main Results:

• Exploratory behavior demonstrated moderate to high repeatability across contexts, despite habituation effects.
• Boldness showed lower repeatability, indicating greater behavioral flexibility.
• Exploratory behavior was significantly influenced by litter identity.

Conclusions:

• Black rats appear to develop personality types in exploratory behavior in response to heterogeneous selection, likely driven by pest management.
• Boldness is characterized by higher behavioral flexibility rather than fixed personality types.
• These findings support the hypothesis that human activities shape animal behavioral evolution.