Social dominance, aggressiveness and mating success among male house mice (Mus musculus)

Aspects of male social hierarchies manifest in confined house mice colonies, of population densities comparable with those observed in natural communities, have been studied. Random processes were found to exert significant influences on the social orders established immediately after founding. In addition to the previously reported effect of orders of arrival at the different localities, relative weights were also found to have significant influences on the initial social order.