Male Norway rats cooperate according to direct but not generalized reciprocity rules

Reciprocal cooperation may evolve if the costs of help are reliably compensated for by delayed returns provided in future interactions. The associated probabilities and cost–benefit ratios may vary systematically between the sexes, which often display different dispersal strategies and interaction p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animal behaviour 2019-06, Vol.152, p.93-101
Main Authors: Schweinfurth, Manon K., Aeschbacher, Jonathan, Santi, Massimiliano, Taborsky, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
altruism
cooperation
generosity
reciprocity
sex differences
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Reciprocal cooperation may evolve if the costs of help are reliably compensated for by delayed returns provided in future interactions. The associated probabilities and cost–benefit ratios may vary systematically between the sexes, which often display different dispersal strategies and interaction patterns. Whereas female Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, are known to apply direct and generalized decision rules of reciprocal cooperation, the rules according to which males reciprocate favours are less well understood. Therefore, we investigated the cooperation propensity of male wild-type Norway rats. Male test rats experienced cooperating partners that provided food to them, or defecting partners that refused to provide help. Afterwards, test rats could donate food to previously experienced or unknown partners, resembling direct and generalized reciprocity paradigms, respectively. Male rats cooperated according to direct reciprocity, suggesting that this decision rule is similarly important for both sexes. However, whereas females additionally help according to generalized reciprocity, males did not apply this rule. These results suggest a sex difference in reciprocal decision rules, highlighting the potential importance of different interaction patterns and cost–benefit ratios between the sexes. •Cooperation can evolve by reciprocity.•Reciprocity can be based on direct experiences or on anonymous social information.•Here we show that male Norway rats exchange help reciprocally.•Male rats only help according to direct experiences with the same partner.•This suggests that reciprocal helping rules can vary between the sexes.
ISSN:0003-3472
1095-8282
DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.03.015