A. Guillot et Ja. Meyer, A COST-BENEFIT-ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIORAL SEQUENCE ORGANIZATION IN LABORATORY MICE, Ethology, ecology and evolution, 9(2), 1997, pp. 119-132
To test the hypothesis that the actual organization of diurnal and noc
turnal behavioural sequences observed in C3H mice tend to maximize a c
lassical functional criterion - the net energy gain - artificial behav
ioural sequences were defined by reorganization of the acts of actual
ones, through application of three Monte-Carlo-type processes (ALT, SE
Q and RND). ALT sequences correspond to a random choice of rest/activi
ty bouts, and SEQ sequences to a random reorganization of acts in each
activity bout. RND sequences correspond to a random choice of rest/ac
tivity bouts together with a random choice of acts in each activity bo
ut. The net energy gain associated with each of these artificial behav
ioural sequences was derived from a computation of the corresponding e
nergy inputs by means of a dynamic feeding model - and energy outputs,
on the basis of the energy cost of each constituent act. This net gai
n was then compared with the net gain corresponding to the actual beha
vioural sequence of the animal. The results of RND and ALT sequences s
ubstantiate the maximization hypothesis, while those of SEQ sequences
reveal individual differences. This suggests the existence of two inde
pendent behavioural strategies - choice of rest/activity alternations
and choice of acts during an activity bout - as they can lead to antag
onist effects on the functional criterion.