7/22/2023 0 Comments Mouse utopia experiment striveNot a scientist, but I live in a forest and see a lot of small mammals, so looking forward to the response. It seems though that Calhoun initially made these connections to draw attention to his work, but it took on a life of its own, overshadowing what he was actually setting out to do. Had he used a species that was monogamous or polyandrous, the result may have been different, although it would have probably failed, but for different reasons, such as lack of mental stimulation.Įdit: I found a working paper that offers some more perspective on how Calhoun's research was received:, apparently he was heavily criticized for anthropomorphizing the mice and drawing connections to human society by the contemporaneous scientific community. As such, it seems that the size of the space was irrelevant (IIRC, many of the nesting areas were never used), rather the design of the space undermined how these mice engaged in sexual relations and they were unable to adapt. Also, the other male mice would kill pups. The constant fighting left dominant mice exhausted, which meant that the female mice had to fight more to keep away from other male mice (problematic when male mice can smell when a female is in heat and there's nowhere for the female to hide) leaving them with less time to care for pups. Unable to move to a new place, the remaining male mice either became despondent, not engaging in any social interaction, or aggressive, trying to fight their way to the female mice. In the wild, where mice can move more freely, maintaining a harem is less effective and male mice will also move to where there's less competition for partners. This meant that most of the males had no regular sexual partners. Being in a small, closed environment, the dominant mice were able to corral the female mice into harems. The mice used in the experiment were polygamous, with male mice being territorial and attacking any other male mice who come close. I don't have a background in behavioral science, but it seems to me that the chief cause of universe 25's demise was not overpopulation, but how mice form sexual relations. I've tried looking up more information, but most videos and articles I find are just a re-telling of events and his findings, with scant criticism of his conclusions from a modern perspective. While the population initially grew, the population ultimately collapsed, never having reached the theoretical maximum capacity.įrom this, Calhoun drew a lot of conclusions about urban living conditions among humans and the possible effects of overpopulation, but to me his conclusions take the wrong lessons and don't appear to be applicable to humans or any scenario except the one he created. I recently watched a video about Calhoun's "universe 25" experiment wherein he placed a population of mice in an environment with an abundance of food and nesting materials. No troll, bots, spam, or harassment.ĭo you have a more specific scientific question? Try /r/AskScience Do you have a question on a science-fiction universe? Try /r/AskScienceFiction This subreddit is a subsidiary of AskScience and the same rules of civility apply. Arguments that run counter to well-established scientific concepts may be removed. We are happy to discuss controversial topics, but we expect users to maintain some level of scientific integrity. Sources, especially peer-reviewed, are always helpful and appreciated. Posts and comments that are unrelated to science, promoting pseudoscience or are unscientific in nature will be removed. Help users work through questions they're unsure how to phrase for /r/AskScienceĭiscuss broader questions pertaining to science or scientific fields We also:ĭiscuss reading material or other educational topicsĬontinue tangential discussions that start on /r/AskScience r/AskScienceDiscussion is the place to ask any question you have about being a scientist, what's new in a field, or what's going to happen in a field. Welcome to /r/AskScienceDiscussion, help the subreddit grow by subscribing!
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