User:Leparra/sandbox

In a study published in 2014, a group of male Rattus norvegicus domesticus (fancy rat) demonstrated 'rat empathy' by opening cage doors for rats, both of identical and stranger strains, that it had previously been housed with. In addition, rats of the same strain that had not been previously housed together would also open cage doors for each other. . Researchers swamped new born rats of different strains to further test social familiarity versus strain recognition. Social complexity of their behavior was further exhibited by the willingness, measured in time, of the rats to open cage doors for other rats of a different strain they were not housemates with. The results show that the free rat would only release the trapped rat if it had a previous interaction with a rat that was identical to the stranger strain that was caged. The study advocates that rats will perform empathic gestures to other rats it identifies social cues from which potentially allows them to be malleable in adverse environments. Thereby indicating that social familiarity is of higher significance in comparison to strain or possible relatedness.

Mice have been studied and demonstrated to produce both low and high frequency ultrasonic vocalizations. A study conducted was able to survey male mouse calls which were emphasized in simple or complex and energetically costly songs believed to be associated with courtship behavior or during male-to-male interactions for exchange of information.

A distinguishable trait of Rodents (as well as Lagomorpha, which includes jackrabbits and rabbits alike) is their continuous growth of incisors with tough enamel solely on the front ends to enhance a cusp-like shape. Both families do also have a distinctive diastema between the incisors and the cheek teeth. Comparatively, only rodents have a fully solid skull of bone while Lagomorpha are commonly identified by their webby fenestration.

Rodents are successfully not only in survival but also in populating which contributes to the presence on every continent with the only exception being Antarctica.