OF DOMESTIC AND WILD GUINEA-PIGS - STUDIES IN SOCIOPHYSIOLOGY, DOMESTICATION, AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION

Among mammals a majority of each individual's daily expectations, moti vations, and behaviors are directed to encounters with conspecifics. T herefore the knowledge of the genesis. control, and consequences of so cial interactions is crucial for understanding their social life. We p resent here our research on the sociophysiology, domestication, and so cial evolution of wild (Cavia aperea and Galea musteloides) and domest ic (Cavia aperea f. porcellus) guinea pigs, which summarizes general r ules for many group-living mammals. It is shown that social interactio ns have consequences not only for the individuals' reproductive succes s but also for their degrees of stress and welfare. The way in which i ndividuals interact is controlled not only by the present environment but also by the previous social experiences which they have gathered d uring their behavioral development. Furthermore, the study of ontogeny does not begin at birth, because prenatal social factors acting on pr egnant females can also affect the way in which the offspring will int eract when adult. In addition, to understand the genesis of interactio ns between domesticated animals implies knowledge of the behavioral an d physiological changes which occurred during the process of domestica tion. Finally, understanding the social interactions among individuals of the wild ancestor of the domesticated form requires knowledge of h ow their behavior patterns were brought about by natural selection dur ing the process of social evolution.