Experiments on ‘Neophobia’ in Wild and Laboratory Rats

Abstract

All rats (Rattus nmvegicuS), wild or tame, have a well-marked tendency to explore their surroundings. Wild rats, but not tame ones, also tend to avoid unfamiliar objects in a p r e~o w l y explored, and therefore familiar, area. The effect of environmental change on feeding waa studied in three groups of wild rats. Rats of Group 1 were accustomed to feeding from a wire basket at the back of the cage; for them the change consisted of transfer of the food to an unfamiliar tin at the fkont of the cage. Group 2 had food in the basket throughout, and the change consisted only in an empty, unfamiliar tin being put in the h n t of the cage. The rats of Group 3 fed from a basket in the front of the cage; the change for them was the placing of an unfamiliar empty tin between the back of the cage, where they slept, and the food. In all three group feeding was interrupted by the change. In the first group, three of the five rats stopped eating completely for one or more days; in the other two groups, food consumption waa merely reduced on the first day after the change. The ?heck in eating was not due to exploration: the new object waa at first completely avoided by all the rats. Tame albino and hooded rats,, subjected to the same procedure as the wild rats of Group 1, investigated the tin and the food in it at once; their food intake during the day after the change waa unaffected. The first approach of the hooded rats to the new object was, however, more hesitant than that of the albinos. Investigation of a new object, or new conditions, can sometimes lead to an interruption of feeding in tame rats, but this has nothing in common with avoidance behaviour in wild rats. PqcJwl. 48, 23846.cubed diet for mice and rats.

The Role of Neophobia and Neophilia in the Development of Innovative Behaviour of Birds

“…There is good empirical support for aspects of the hypothesis. Intrinsic differences in neophobia have been established between various closely related species and strains of species, particularly domesticated vs wild forms (Bamett, 1958;DesForges and Wood-Gush, 1975;Bamett and Cowan, 1976;Mitchell, 1976;Jones, 1986). Particularly instructive are the experiments of Brent ef ai (2003) and Dingemanse ef al (2002) where selection experiments led to two distinct groups of Great Tits that differed in their exploratory tendencies in a few generations.…”

Argentine Ant Management in Conservation Areas: Results of a Pilot Study

“…Rats display an aversion to new items in a previously explored environment (Barnett 1958). We used noninvasive camera traps baited with scent lures and, understanding that we might be placing a camera in the established territory of an incipient rat, we used long intervals between trap checks to allow a possibly resident rat to become comfortable with the device, thus increasing the probability of detection.…”

Patterns of predator neophobia: a meta-analytic review

“…Positive responses (e.g. attraction) towards novel stimuli are generally referred to as 'neophilia' [8], whereas the term 'neophobia' describes negative responses [9]. Russell Greenberg was a pioneer of research on the ecological role of neophobia [10], defining it as the degree of aversion towards novel objects or new situations, or the avoidance of an environmental element because it has not been experienced previously [11].…”