Studying pup isolation calls of wild rodents provides background for developing new early-life animal models for biomedical research and drug testing.This study discovered a highly complex acoustic phenotype of pup is...Studying pup isolation calls of wild rodents provides background for developing new early-life animal models for biomedical research and drug testing.This study discovered a highly complex acoustic phenotype of pup isolation calls in 4–5-day-old Mongolian hamsters Allocricetulus curtatus.We analyzed the acoustic structure of 5,010 isolation calls emitted in the broad range of frequencies(sonic,below 20 kHz,and ultrasonic,from 20 to 128 kHz)by 23 pups during 2-min isolation test trials,1 trial per pup.In addition,we measured 5 body size parameters and the body weight of each pup.The calls could contain up to 3 independent fundamental frequencies in their spectra,the low(f0),the medium(g0),and the high(h0),or purely consisted of chaos in which the fundamental frequency could not be tracked.By presence/absence of the 3 fundamental frequencies or their combinations and chaos,we classifed calls into 6 distinctive categories(low-frequency[LF]-f0,LF-chaos,high-frequency[HF]-g0,HF-h0,HF-g0+h0,and HF-chaos)and estimated the relative abundance of calls in each category.Between categories,we compared acoustic parameters and estimated their relationship with pup body size index.We discuss the results of this study with data on the acoustics of pup isolation calls reported for other species of rodents.We conclude that such high complexity of Mongolian hamster pup isolation calls is unusual for rodents.Decreased acoustic complexity serves as a good indicator of autism spectrum disorders in knockout mouse models,which makes knockout hamster models prospective new wild animal model of neurodevelopmental disorders.展开更多
Traditionally,urbanization has been seen as a negative phenomenon for biota.However,changes in the environmental parameters induced by urbanization might be favorable for some species.Over the past half-century,...Traditionally,urbanization has been seen as a negative phenomenon for biota.However,changes in the environmental parameters induced by urbanization might be favorable for some species.Over the past half-century,the common hamster has actively populated cities,establishing populations in some European,Russian and Kazakhstan cities.Based on integrative methods,we investigated free-range common hamsters inhabiting Simferopol from 2015 to 2018 to reveal possible adaptations to the urbanized environment across several parameters,including lifespan,hibernation period,reproductive activity and body mass.Results show that in urban areas,the common hamster demonstrates an extremely short hibernation period compared to other localities,possibly due to enhanced food resources from urban forestry(walnuts,locus and hazelnut),allowing the species to start breeding very early(February)and finish as late as October.We present the first evidence of polyandry for this species:mating of receptive females with several males and subsequent confirmation of multiple paternity.Despite high reproductive potential,the lifespan of the common hamster in urban conditions is generally very short(less than 1 year).We speculate that in the process of synurbization,the common hamster’s innate plasticity across many life history traits permits it to successfully colonize throughout a wide range of habitats,with the ability to form novel adaptations to urban environments.展开更多
文摘Studying pup isolation calls of wild rodents provides background for developing new early-life animal models for biomedical research and drug testing.This study discovered a highly complex acoustic phenotype of pup isolation calls in 4–5-day-old Mongolian hamsters Allocricetulus curtatus.We analyzed the acoustic structure of 5,010 isolation calls emitted in the broad range of frequencies(sonic,below 20 kHz,and ultrasonic,from 20 to 128 kHz)by 23 pups during 2-min isolation test trials,1 trial per pup.In addition,we measured 5 body size parameters and the body weight of each pup.The calls could contain up to 3 independent fundamental frequencies in their spectra,the low(f0),the medium(g0),and the high(h0),or purely consisted of chaos in which the fundamental frequency could not be tracked.By presence/absence of the 3 fundamental frequencies or their combinations and chaos,we classifed calls into 6 distinctive categories(low-frequency[LF]-f0,LF-chaos,high-frequency[HF]-g0,HF-h0,HF-g0+h0,and HF-chaos)and estimated the relative abundance of calls in each category.Between categories,we compared acoustic parameters and estimated their relationship with pup body size index.We discuss the results of this study with data on the acoustics of pup isolation calls reported for other species of rodents.We conclude that such high complexity of Mongolian hamster pup isolation calls is unusual for rodents.Decreased acoustic complexity serves as a good indicator of autism spectrum disorders in knockout mouse models,which makes knockout hamster models prospective new wild animal model of neurodevelopmental disorders.
基金the Russian Foundation for Basic Research,project no 17-04-01061,Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences,no 41,“Biodiversity of Natural Systems and Biological Resources of Russia.”。
文摘Traditionally,urbanization has been seen as a negative phenomenon for biota.However,changes in the environmental parameters induced by urbanization might be favorable for some species.Over the past half-century,the common hamster has actively populated cities,establishing populations in some European,Russian and Kazakhstan cities.Based on integrative methods,we investigated free-range common hamsters inhabiting Simferopol from 2015 to 2018 to reveal possible adaptations to the urbanized environment across several parameters,including lifespan,hibernation period,reproductive activity and body mass.Results show that in urban areas,the common hamster demonstrates an extremely short hibernation period compared to other localities,possibly due to enhanced food resources from urban forestry(walnuts,locus and hazelnut),allowing the species to start breeding very early(February)and finish as late as October.We present the first evidence of polyandry for this species:mating of receptive females with several males and subsequent confirmation of multiple paternity.Despite high reproductive potential,the lifespan of the common hamster in urban conditions is generally very short(less than 1 year).We speculate that in the process of synurbization,the common hamster’s innate plasticity across many life history traits permits it to successfully colonize throughout a wide range of habitats,with the ability to form novel adaptations to urban environments.
