Article Abstract:
An experiment analysing the effect of social experience on behavioural development looks at the litter-mate preferences in young Belding's ground squirrels. The social development of six groups of squirrels housed in outdoor enclosures are determined by studying their litter-mate preferences from the time of natal emergence. Together, the experiments show that social experience at the time of birth, and just after, play an important part in the subsequent social relationships of Belding's ground squirrels.
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Article Abstract:
Captive juvenile Belding's ground squirrel, Spermophilus beldingi, were used in the investigation of the role of the mother in the establishment of litter-mate preferences among juveniles. Results reveal that mothers are important in social learning in the juvenile of this species but they do not actively influence the ontogeny of the social relationship of the progeny. Further, learned litter-mate preferences are also instilled through the initial social experiences on emergence.
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Article Abstract:
The ontogeny of littermate inclination in golden-mantled ground squirrels seems incompatible with the comparative image for Spermophilus drawn in previous studies. Comparative studies put S. lateralis in the minimum social category of ground-dwelling squirrels. The outcome of the experiment reveals that earlier relation alone did not explain juvenile's social preferences as expected for a comparatively asocial species.
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