%0 Journal Article %A WANG Dawei %A WANG Zhenlong %A ZHANG Zhibin %T Effects of body weight on dominance hierarchy and agonistic behaviors in male greater long-tailed hamsters (Tscheskia triton) %D 2007 %R %J ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA %P 26-32 %V 27 %N 1 %X We studied the effects of body weight on dominance hierarchy and agonistic behaviors of male greater long-tailed hamster (Tscheskia triton)in a laboratory setting. The main hypothesis tested was that body weight can significantly influence the dominance hierarchy and agonistic behaviors of male T. triton. Paired encounters between 16 male T. triton were conducted in the lab, and the probability of linearity within hierarchies was calculated. To demonstrate linearity of a hierarchy in a group, we calculated the number of circular triads in each group, and the degree of linearity within each hierarchy (i. e. the coefficient K, which has values from 0, indicating complete absence of linearity, to 1, indicating a linear hierarchy). We used regression analysis to test relationships between body weight,and agonistic behaviors and dominance hierarchy. Staged agonistic encounters showed that males developed a dominance hierarchy. Dominance hierarchy was significantly and positively correlated with body weight. Aggressive behaviors and flank marking were significantly and positively correlated with body weight, whereas defensive behaviors and aggression latency were significantly and negative correlated with body weight. Stepwise multiple regressions showed that dominance hierarchy was significantly and positively correlated with defensive behaviors and flank marking. Our results show that male T. triton, which are solitary rodents in the wild,developed a near linear dominance hierarchy during the staged agonistic encounters and that body weight play an important role in the hierarchy developed. Furthermore,we observed a diversity of relationships between body weight and agonistic behaviors.
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