SOCIAL DOMINANCE IN GERBILS AND HAMSTERS

Dominance orders in four groups of gerbils Meriones unguiculates and four groups of hamsters Mesocricetus auratus were measured in two conventional tests. Both species evidenced reliable rank orders in a majority of group-test combinations. Water competition rankings were associated with obvious aggression and were positively correlated with body weight. In the gerbils, tunnel competition rankings were not accompanied by overt aggression and were negatively correlated with body weight and uncorrelated with water dominance orders. In the hamsters, tunnel dominance orders were mediated by overt aggression and were positively correlated with both body weight and water dominance orders. © 1969, Psychonomic Journals, Inc.. All rights reserved.