Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Conspecifics And Familiar Odors Alter Movement Patterns In A Land Snail, Cepaea Hortensis, Madeleine Shelton, Jeeva Rathnaweera, Perri Eason

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

In some animals, unfamiliarity with a place and the presence of a conspecific can change movement patterns, often altering individuals’ routes, exploration, and the directions taken. Patterns such as these can affect individual survival, and thus might be present across a wide range of taxa, although mostly vertebrates have been studied. We used a native Kentucky land snail (white-lipped globe snail, Cepaea hortensis) to investigate how snail size, familiarity and the recent presence of a conspecific affect movement of snails in a novel environment. We also tested whether presence of a familiar smell influenced movement on a 25X25 cm …