Do Melomys cervinipes have personalities? Variations in behaviour and hormones (Old ID 22230)

Skyrail Rainforest Foundation
Role

Supervisor

Description

Behavioural syndromes or personalities are a series of correlated behaviours that are consistently displayed within an environment by an individual. I aim to study whether the fawn-footed melomys, Melomys cervinipes, in the Wet Tropics has distinct behavioural syndromes and whether these behavioural syndromes are associated with habitat disturbance. I hypothesise that individual M. cervinipes will show distinct behavioural syndromes depending on their habitat. This study will provide a greater understanding of the relationship between behavioural syndromes and habitat disturbance in a poorly studied Australian rodent. This knowledge will provide an insight into how individual and population fitness could be affected in degraded environments and how animals may cope with environmental change.

Date

13 Jul 2015 - 12 Jul 2016

Project Type

N/A

Keywords

Personality;Habitat Disturbance;hormones;Melomys cervinipes (Muridae)

Funding Body

Skyrail Rainforest Foundation

Amount

2000

Project Team

Brad Congdon;Tasmin Rymer