A COMPARISON BETWEEN HOUSE MOUSE LINES SELECTED FOR ATTACK LATENCY ORNEST-BUILDING - EVIDENCE FOR A GENETIC-BASIS OF ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIORAL STRATEGIES

House mouse lines bidirectionally selected for either nest-building be havior or attack latency were tested for both attack latency and nest- building behavior under identical conditions. Male mice selected for h igh nest-building behavior had shorter attack latencies, i.e., were mo re aggressive, than those selected for low nest-building behavior and their randomly bred control lines. Conversely, male wild house mice se lected for short attack latency showed more nest-building behavior tha n those selected for long attack latency when tested at 110 days of ag e. These findings imply a common genetic basis for control of aggressi on and nesting and support earlier proposals as to how animals may exh ibit fundamentally different responses to environmental challenges, ei ther reacting actively to aversive situations (aggressive and high-nes ting animals: active copers) or adopting a passive strategy (nonaggres sive and low-nesting animals: passive copers).