Information centres of norway rats: sites for information exchange and information parasitism

Abstract

Results of previous studies have demonstrated that aggregation, sites of Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, can provide unsuccessful foragers with opportunities to extract information about available foods from their more successful fellows. The present experiments show that aggregations of rats also allow successful foragers to exchange information about foraging opportunities. After interacting, both members of a pair of rats, each of which had just eaten a different, novel food exhibited, enhanced preferences for the food that their respective partners had eaten. These socially induced changes in diet preference did not result from simple exposure of interactants, to food-related cues during interaction. Changes in diet preference as a result of information exchange depended, on exposure of each interactant to food-related cues in the context provided by the presence of its partner.