The commensal environment is one that has been created and is continuously maintained by man – it usually refers to houses, villages, and towns, and more broadly to gardens, fields, and plantations. Few environments are so diverse from an abiotic point of view. Family houses, high-rise buildings, parks, waterfront, factories, warehouses, abandoned buildings, sewers, landfills – many different niches can be often found next to each other. From this point of view, it is extremely striking that only a small number of species commonly occur in the commensal environment. However, global urbanization moves forward at an unprecedented pace. Therefore, it is of a great importance to ask what characteristics give a species the ability to prosper in the commensal environment.
In our department, we focus primarily on commensal rodents, namely the house mouse (Mus), the rat (Rattus), and the spiny mouse (Acomys). Beside applied research on rodent detection and monitoring (Fraňková et al. 2019), we are mainly interested in behavioral differences between commensal and non-commensal populations of the same species, i.e., how do they differ in aggressive behavior (Frynta et al. 2005), exploratory behavior (Frynta et al. 2018; Štolhoferová et al. 2020), antipredator behavior or stress response (Nováková et al. 2008).
Frankova, M., Kaftanova, B., Aulicky, R., Rodl, P., Frynta, D., & Stejskal, V. (2019). Temporal production of coloured faeces in wild roof rats (Rattus rattus) following consumption of fluorescent non-toxic bait and a comparison with wild R. norvegicus and Mus musculus. Journal of stored products research, 81, 7-10.
Frynta, D., Slabova, M., Vachova, H., Volfova, R., & Munclinger, P. (2005). Aggression and commensalism in house mouse: a comparative study across Europe and the Near East. Aggressive Behavior, 31(3), 283-293.
Frynta, D., Kaftanová-Eliášová, B., Žampachová, B., Voráčková, P., Sádlová, J., & Landová, E. (2018). Behavioural strategies of three wild-derived populations of the house mouse (Mus m. musculus and M. m. domesticus) in five standard tests of exploration and boldness: Searching for differences attributable to subspecies and commensalism. Behavioural processes, 157, 133-141.
Nováková, M., Palme, R., Kutalová, H., Janský, L., & Frynta, D. (2008). The effects of sex, age and commensal way of life on levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus). Physiology & behavior, 95(1-2), 187-193.
Štolhoferová, I., Holubová, K., Vobrubová, B., Kaftanová, B., & Frynta, D. (2020). On the ground and in the heights: does exploratory activity differ in commensal and non-commensal spiny mice?. Behavioural Processes, 104252.