Continuous monitoring and machine vision reveals that developing gerbils exhibit structured social behaviors prior to the emergence of autonomy.

Investigating social and independent behavior structure in early life is critical for understanding development and brain maturation in social mammals. However, this investigation necessitates monitoring animals over weeks to months often with subsecond time resolution creating challenges for both lab studies focused on brief observation periods and field studies in which animal tracking can be imprecise. Here we used machine vision and two-week long continuous behavior recordings of families of gerbils, a highly social rodent, in large, undisturbed home environments to quantify the behavioral development of individual pups. We discovered that individual pups exhibited complex social behaviors from the first day they left the nest including a preference for interactions with siblings over parents. Critically, independent behaviors such as foraging for food and water emerged several days later, each with a stereotyped temporal trajectory. Analysis of individual animal development confirmed the quality of our tracking methods and the stability and distinctness of each behavioral measure. Our work supports a model in which early and sustained social interactions may be supportive of solitary exploration for physiological needs. This model suggests that understanding the development of behavioral independence as well as maturation of sensory and motor systems in social rodents such as gerbils may require integration of social behavioral knowledge earlier than typically considered.