Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Seasonal differences in odor preference and social behavior existed among adult meadow voles. During the breeding season, a female preferred its own odor and the odor of males to the odor of another females. Males preferred the odor of females to the odor of other males. Paired encounters between breeding females were more agonistic than encounters between males or encounters between males and females. During the nonbreeding season, a female preferred the the odor of another female to the odor of males. Males did not display an odor preference for any conspecifics. Paired encounters between males were more agonistic than encounters between males and females or encounters between females. Encounters between nonbreeding females contained few agonistic acts. Seasonal differences also existed in the interactions between adults and juveniles. During the early breeding season, adult males were more agonistic than adult females toward juvenile males. During the late breeding season, adult females were more agonistic than adult males toward juvenile males. Encounters between an adult female and a juvenile female in the late breeding season contained few agonistic acts, indicating that overwintering groups are female-biased, and contain juvenile females. Juveniles did not display a shift in odor preferences. They preferred the odor of opposite-sex adults to the odor of same-sex adults, regardless of season. Familiarity, through association during rearing, reduced agonistic behavior between parents and young, and between siblings. Paired encounters between close-kin that were not familiar were agonistic, and similar to encounters between unfamiliar, and unrelated conspecifics. Conspecifics were more agonistic toward closely related males than females. Voles also preferred the odor of a familiar nestmate, independently of genetic relatedness. Familiarity decreased the number of agonistic behaviors between adult females, but increased the number of agonistic behaviors between adult males. Familiarity had no effect on the number of agonistic behaviors between a male and a female. / 2031-01-01

The distinct ecological requirements of Microtus xanthognathus (yellow-cheeked vole or taiga vole) and M. pennsylvanicus (meadow vole) warrant accurate discrimination of their remains in studies of paleoecology and past biogeographical shifts. An occlusal length of the lower 1st molars (ml) that is >3.2 mm for M. xanthognathus is the method most frequently used to separate these 2 taxa in archaeological and paleontological samples. However, these measurements alone are unreliable because some specimens of M. pennsylvanicus overlap smaller individuals of M. xanthognathus in size. Therefore, I created and tested a morphometric technique that discriminates Recent lower 1st molars (mis) of M. pennsylvanicus from those of M. xanthognathus, and is applicable to other taxa (both modern and fossil). Despite overlapping occlusal length, my discriminant function based on landmark data correctly classified 100% (n = 53) of Recent m1s from the 2 taxa and 97.7% (43 of 44) of (assumed) m1s of M. pennsylvanicus from an archaeological site from about AD 1200 in central Nebraska. This landmark scheme is applicable to fossil and modern Microtus worldwide. © 2006 American Society of Mammalogists.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Zoology, 2003. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references.