Mounting
Mouse Ethogram > Active Behaviors > General Activity > Agonistic Interactions > Threat Behaviors > Mounting
Overview and Meaning
Mounting is classified, for these purposes, as a threat behavior. Mounting is typically seen as part of dominance behavior and mediated aggression.
Description
A mouse attempts to mount another mouse in the absence of intromission. Palpitations with forepaws and pelvic thrusts may be present.
This can be distinguished from copulatory mounting as follows:
- The sequence of behaviors before and after mounting occurs
- The absence of breeding pairs
Classification
Threat Behaviors, part of Agonistic Interactions
Contexts
Agonistic interactions can occur in the context of territorial behavior and/or dominance behavior. Territorial behavior and dominance behavior differ in the context that they occur, the resources under competition, and the threat behavior that initiates the interaction.
Variants
None
Mounting is a threat behavior. These include:
Mounting is characteristic of dominance behavior.
The full behavior chain consists of:
These proceed as either mediated aggression or escalated aggression, differentiated by the absence or presence of aggressive behaviors.
Stanford Department of Comparative Medicine presents
A Comprehensive Ethogram of the Laboratory Mouse
