Mice are prone to hyperthermia if they can't regulate their temp properly because of overcrowding - you can't separate those factors or the buildup of ammonia (which is toxic).ģ. Mice need space, just like food and water. ![]() Colony behaviors are seen in all mice - "homosexuality" (however defined), maternal and paternal infanticide, "duds" that don't breed or mate, etc.Ģ. ![]() Mice are stressed (psychologically/ physically) by overcrowding. ![]() This experiment goes from terrifying to interesting with insight. If that sounds familiar, well it's pretty much what human had to do in the not too distant past. We probably wouldn't have seen such explosive population growth and mice would have far more clearly defined roles in order keep the colony thriving. My hunch tells me that the mice society would do much better. Perhaps someone can create an AI simulation where the mice have to face life and death danger and work hard to find food. Unfortunately such experiments would be absolutely unthinkable in today's world and he would have been tossed in jail for animal abuse. None of mice had to work for food and I think that actually play an important role in the breakdown. I do think there is one other important factor that was missed. It's definitely up to everyone's own POV if the experiment on mice can be paralleled to human, but it's probably ignorant to say it means absolutely nothing. We are currently witnessing direct parallels in today’s society.weak, feminized men with little to no skills and no protection instincts, and overly agitated and aggressive females with no maternal instincts.”įirst time seeing this and it's sad that I am not even surprised with the finding. John Calhoun repeated the same experiment 25 more times, and each time the result was the same.Ĭalhoun's scientific work has been used as a model for interpreting social collapse, and his research serves as a focal point for the study of urban sociology. By 1973, he had killed the last mouse in the Universe 25. Two years after the start of the experiment, the last baby of the colony was born. As time went on, juvenile mortality reached 100% and reproduction reached zero.Īmong the endangered mice, homosexuality was observed and, at the same time, cannibalism increased, despite the fact that there was plenty of food. The former was characterized by the loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence - no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society. According to Calhoun, the death phase consisted of two stages: the "first death" and "second death." At one point, "beautiful males" and "isolated females" made up the majority of the population. They refused to mate with the females or to "fight" for their space. Then, a new class of male rodents appeared, the so-called "beautiful mice". There was a low birth rate and, at the same time, an increase in mortality in younger rodents. As time went on, the females showed more and more aggressive behaviour, isolation elements and lack of reproductive mood. As a result, the females did not protect themselves and in turn became aggressive towards their young. The larger rodents began to attack the group, with the result that many males begin to "collapse" psychologically. When the number of rodents reached 600, a hierarchy was formed between them and then the so-called "wretches" appeared. There's also a video that further explains the experiment.In the beginning, he placed four pairs of mice that in a short time began to reproduce, resulting in their population growing rapidly.īut, after 315 days their reproduction began to decrease significantly. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, which was later made into a movie called The Secret of NIMH, at Atlas Obscura. Read about Calhoun’s experiments and how he inspired a book called Ms. They couldn't have known the truth: that within a few years, they and their descendants would all be dead.Ĭalhoun saw the results of this population growth experiment echo his earlier, smaller mouse utopias. ![]() They must have thought they were the luckiest mice in the world. The residents of Universe 25 were mostly left alone, save for one man who would peer at them from above, and his team of similarly interested assistants. It's even better than your average lab mouse's, which is constantly interrupted by white-coated humans with scalpels or syringes. This is a far cry from a wild mouse's life-no cats, no traps, no long winters. They thrived quickly due to the many amenities: plenty of food and water, nesting boxes, room to run, and most important for a mouse, safety from predators. His largest experiment was a room sized mouse universe in which he placed eight mice in 1968. Now he had space and resources to build mouse utopias. He had spent years already studying the behavior of groups of mice kept in captivity. John Bumpass Calhoun was a researcher at the the National Institute of Mental Health beginning in 1954.
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