WIKIMEDIA, LAURANA SERRES-GIARDI
Mound-building mice (Mus spicilegus) will mate more quickly with a partner that is equally anxious than if paired with a more- or less-apprehensive mouse, according to a study published in the May issue of Animal Behaviour.
Researchers from the University of Paris used two tests to measure the personality of lab-bred descendants of wild mice caught in Hungary. The first measured how adventurous the mice were by recording their behavior in a walled arena with open space in the middle. Braver mice spent more time exploring the center of the arena. The researchers then used a second test, known as an elevated plus maze, to quantify anxiety by comparing how much time an animal spent on the two walled arms and on the two non-enclosed ...
