Overview and Meaning

Rearing is a variant of the search phase of exploratory behavior, when the animal is moving around the environment attempting to contact relevant stimuli. Rearing may be interrupted by brief bouts of attend or investigate behaviors when the animal encounters a stimulus. The animal will then return to general locomotion, or move to the next step in the Exploration behavior chain (i.e. attend, approach or investigate as appropriate).

Rearing serves to provide head elevation to attend or investigate more distant stimuli. As mouse vision is very limited, rearing is typically accompanied with the investigate - undirected sniffing variant of investigation.

Description

The mouse will put its weight on its hind legs, raise, it's forelimbs from the ground, and extend it's head upwards.

Classification

Exploration, variant of Search

Contexts

Environmental

Variants