Fighting in juvenile rats and the ontogeny of agonistic behavior.

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Abstract
The intraspecific interactions of male domesticated rats were studied in 2 experiments to examine the relation between juvenile and adult fighting. The animals were observed throughout their ontogeny and again after they reached sexual maturity. In experiment 1, the rats were group housed with siblings and observed with siblings. The animals of experiment 2 were in 1 of 4 conditions that were either group or individually housed and were observed with either familiar or unfamiliar conspecifics. The individual differences of juveniles remain reasonably stable throughout the animals'' ontogeny and into adulthood. The relative frequencies of these immature fights may predict the future aggressiveness of an animal as an adult. The factors that influence adult aggressive behaviors, factors such as unfamiliarity and social deprivation, may also have an impact on juvenile agonistic behaviors.