# Context or arousal? Function of drumming in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus)

## TL;DR

This study explores the purpose of drumming behavior in Mongolian gerbils, finding it signals arousal and is accompanied by context-specific calls and postures.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the function of drumming in Mongolian gerbils by linking it to arousal and contextual signaling.

## Key findings

- Drumming in Mongolian gerbils increases during predator encounters and unfamiliar social interactions.
- Accompanying calls and body postures vary depending on the context of drumming.
- Drumming appears to signal arousal, while calls and postures convey specific contextual information.

## Abstract

Drumming is a non-vocal auditory display producing airborne as well as seismic vibrations by tapping body extremities on a surface. It is mostly described as an alarm signal but is also discussed to signal dominance or mating quality. To clarify the function of drumming in Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), we compared the occurrence of drumming during predator, opposite-sex and same-sex encounters. We tested 48 captive Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) in three experiments. In predator experiments, subjects were exposed alone or with their cagemate to aerial and terrestrial predator dummies. In social encounter experiments, familiar and unfamiliar male–female dyads and same-sex dyads were confronted. For the same-sex encounters, a dominance index was calculated for each subject based on the number of won and lost conflicts. Drumming and drumming-call combinations were counted, and a multi-parametric sound analysis was performed. In all experiments drumming and drumming-call combinations occurred. In predator experiments, more subjects drummed when confronted with the predator stimulus than in the habituation phase. In social encounter experiments, more subjects drummed when facing an unfamiliar than a familiar conspecific. In addition, the accompanying call type and body posture of the sender differed between experiments. Thus, we suggest that whereas drumming signals an increased arousal state of the sender, the accompanying call type and the body posture signal context specific information.