Urine marking by male bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber, 1780; Microtidae, Rodentia) in relation to their social rank

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Abstract
Available ecological data suggest that mature males of Clethrionomys species form stable hierarchical groups during the breeding season. The present laboratory work reports on the agonistic and urinary behaviour of paired, hierarchically naive, male bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) before, during, and after free interaction in large enclosures provided with individual burrows. In this situation, a generally stable dominance–subordination relationship is established. After a brief fighting episode, the subordinate is recognizable mainly by his avoidance behaviour out of his burrow. The subordinate's burrow itself becomes the focus of agonistic interactions. The staining of urine with unmetabolized vital dyes allowed differentiation of marking patterns. The correlation between these patterns and the hierarchical status of the animals is in accordance with the hypothesis that in bank voles, the urine of adult males contains chemical signals involved in maintaining their social organization. The spatial distribution of the urine marks of the dominant around the subordinate's nest suggests that they act as a territorial marking.