The ability to recognize and differentiate between conspecifics and heterospecifics as well as their signals is critical for the coexistence of closely related species.In the genus Rattus,species are morphologically s...The ability to recognize and differentiate between conspecifics and heterospecifics as well as their signals is critical for the coexistence of closely related species.In the genus Rattus,species are morphologically similar and multiple species often coexist.Here,we investigated the interspecific recognition and signal differentiation of two sympatric rat species,the brown rat(Rattus norvegicus,RN)and the Asian house rat(Rattus tanezumi,RT).In a two-way choice test,both RN and RT females showed a preference for conspecific male rats to heterospecific ones.RT females showed a significant preference for accessible urine of males of same species to those of other species,but not for the inaccessi-ble urine.On the other hand,there were significant differences in the structural characteristics of the ultrasonic vocalization emitted by males of these two rat species.Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE)and isoelectric focusing electrophoresis unveiled that major urinary proteins(MUPs)in voided urine were more highly expressed in RN males versus RT males.The interspecific dif-ferences of urinary volatile compounds were also discussed.In conclusion,female rats had the ability to distinguish between males of either species.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the National Key R&D Program of China(No.6692022YFC2602500)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant nos.32070451 to Y.H.Z.and 31872227 to J.X.Z.).
文摘The ability to recognize and differentiate between conspecifics and heterospecifics as well as their signals is critical for the coexistence of closely related species.In the genus Rattus,species are morphologically similar and multiple species often coexist.Here,we investigated the interspecific recognition and signal differentiation of two sympatric rat species,the brown rat(Rattus norvegicus,RN)and the Asian house rat(Rattus tanezumi,RT).In a two-way choice test,both RN and RT females showed a preference for conspecific male rats to heterospecific ones.RT females showed a significant preference for accessible urine of males of same species to those of other species,but not for the inaccessi-ble urine.On the other hand,there were significant differences in the structural characteristics of the ultrasonic vocalization emitted by males of these two rat species.Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE)and isoelectric focusing electrophoresis unveiled that major urinary proteins(MUPs)in voided urine were more highly expressed in RN males versus RT males.The interspecific dif-ferences of urinary volatile compounds were also discussed.In conclusion,female rats had the ability to distinguish between males of either species.
