Does the reduction of locomotor activity serve as an aggression avoidance mechanism in shrews [Soricidae]?

The hypothesis, that shrews avoid intra- and interspecific aggression through a reduction of their loco-motor activity, was tested. In 55 neutral arena tests (each of 30-min-duration), 10 subadult individuals of Sorex minutus, 14 of S. araneus, 9 (including 1 adult male) of Neomys anomalus, and 13 of N. fodiens were used. Loco-motor activity and sum of conflicts (attacks, chases, escapes and threats) in 1st-5th minutes of interactions (phase I) and 10th-15th minutes (phase II) were compared. In all the species, both in intra- and interspecific interactions, a reduction of mobility between phases I and II was observed (in 6 out of 16 comparisons the difference was statistically significant, and in the 7th comparison it was fairly significant). The highest reduction of activity was observed in the smallest S. minutus, and the lowest reduction (no difference was significant) in the largest, dominating N. fodiens.