Effects of avpr1a length polymorphism on male social behavior and reproduction in semi ‐natural populations of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster)
Abstract
Intraspecific variation in sociosexual behavior has typically been investigated in the context of its relationship with environmental factors, but neurogenetic factors can also influence sociosexual behavior. In laboratory studies of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), length polymorphism of microsatellite DNA within the gene (avpr1a) encoding the vasopressin 1a receptor is correlated with variation in male sociosexual behavior. However, field studies of prairie voles have found the relationship between male avpr1a microsatellite allele length and sociosexual behavior to be more ambiguous, possibly because most ...
Source: Ethology - August 17, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Brian Keane, Frank R. Castelli, Haley Davis, Thomas O. Crist, Nancy G. Solomon Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Bush Hyrax, Heterohyrax brucei, sunbathing on a flat rock in Mpala Ranch, Kenya. This species is smaller than the Rock Hyrax, Procavia capensis, and has darker, grey fur with more obvious white facial markings. Photograph reproduced by permission of Emmanuel Do Linh San.
(Source: Ethology)
Source: Ethology - August 17, 2017 Category: Zoology Tags: Front Cover Source Type: research
Restricted responsiveness to noise interference in two anurans from the southern temperate forest
Abstract
Animals adopt different strategies to communicate by means of sound in noisy environments such that some species increase, while others decrease their vocal activity in the presence of interference. Anuran amphibians from diverse latitudes exhibit both kinds of responses. Recent studies have shown that males of Batrachyla taeniata and Batrachyla antartandica from the temperate austral forest do not call in response to the presentation of advertisement calls of sympatric congeneric species. In contrast, Batrachyla leptopus responds to these signals in a similar way as to conspecific calls. The responsiveness of B.�...
Source: Ethology - August 14, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Mario Penna, Javiera Cisternas, Jessica Toloza Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Behavioural acclimation to cameras and observers in coral reef fishes
Abstract
Observer presence can bias behavioural studies of animals in both the wild and the laboratory. Despite existing evidence for significant observer effects across several taxa, little is known about the minimum periods of acclimation that should precede behavioural observations. To date, most studies either do not report any acclimation periods or include a non‐specific period without empirically quantifying its appropriateness. Here, we conducted in situ behavioural observations of two species of demersal coral reef fishes using cameras and/or observers to examine the biases associated with either approach. For b...
Source: Ethology - August 14, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Gerrit B. Nanninga, Isabelle M. C ôté, Ricardo Beldade, Suzanne C. Mills Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
The role of biotic and abiotic cues in stimulating aggregation by larval cane toads (Rhinella marina)
Abstract
Tadpoles of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) form dense aggregations in the field, but the proximate cues eliciting this behavior are not well understood. We sampled water‐bodies in the Northern Territory of Australia, finding that the density of cane toad tadpoles increased with increasing temperature. Furthermore, we conducted laboratory experiments to explore the roles of biotic factors (attraction to conspecifics; chemical cues from an injured conspecific; food) and spatially heterogeneous abiotic factors (light levels, water depth, physical structure) to identify the cues that induce tadpole aggregation. Ann...
Source: Ethology - August 14, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Camilla Raven, Richard Shine, Matthew Greenlees, Timothy M. Schaerf, Ashley J. W. Ward Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Territoriality mediates atypical size ‐symmetric cannibalism in the Amblypygi Phrynus longipes
Abstract
Cannibalism can have important demographic and ecological effects on populations. Typically, cannibalism is size‐structured, where larger individuals eat smaller conspecifics. Initial cursory observations of the whip spider, Phrynus longipes, however, suggested that cannibalism might not be size‐structured in this species, perhaps because cannibalism is often a by‐product of territory contests. We staged paired interactions and recorded latency to escalate to physical aggression or cannibalize to understand the dynamics of cannibalism and resource contests. We employed a multimodel comparative approach to te...
Source: Ethology - August 14, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Kenneth J. Chapin, Sarah Reed ‐Guy Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Wanting, liking and welfare: The role of affective states in proximate control of behaviour in vertebrates
Abstract
Animals choose a course of action countless times each day. To do so, they need to prioritise their behaviour within a set of alternative actions and decide which of these actions to perform at any one time and for how long, that is, determine when the behaviour has reached its desired effect. This process has classically been called the proximate behavioural control mechanism. Several aspects contribute to this process: internal and external stimuli, the emotions that they elicit, motivation (wants), behavioural goals, valuation, decision‐making and its modulation by mood, and the assessment of behavioural outc...
Source: Ethology - August 14, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Lorenz Gygax Tags: PERSPECTIVES AND REVIEWS Source Type: research
Early experience affects learning performance and neophobia in a cooperatively breeding cichlid
Abstract
The ability to respond flexibly to environmental challenges, for instance by learning or by responding appropriately to novel stimuli, may be crucial for survival and reproductive success. Experiences made during early ontogeny can shape the degree of behavioural flexibility maintained by individuals during later life. In natural habitats, animals are exposed to a multitude of social and non‐social ecological factors during early ontogeny, but their relative influences on future learning ability and behavioural flexibility are only poorly understood. In the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher, ...
Source: Ethology - August 1, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Francis Bannier, Sabine Tebbich, Barbara Taborsky Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
What is driving male mate preference evolution in Jamaican field crickets?
ABSTRACT
Male mating preferences are often a neglected aspect of studies on sexual selection. Male mating preferences may evolve if they provide males with direct‐fitness benefits such as increased opportunity to fertilize more eggs or indirect‐fitness benefits such as enhanced offspring survival. We tested these ideas using Jamaican field crickets, Gryllus assimilis, previously shown to exhibit male mating preferences. We randomly mated males to either their preferred or non‐preferred potential mates and then asked whether mating treatment influenced egg oviposition or offspring viability. Preferred females were not...
Source: Ethology - July 26, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Susan M. Bertram, Sarah J. Harrison, Genevieve L. Ferguson, Ian R. Thomson, Michelle J. Loranger, Mykell L. Reifer, Deborah H. Corlett, Patricia Adair Gowaty Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Rapid partner switching may facilitate increased broadcast group size in dance compared with conversation groups
Abstract
Dancing is a universal human activity that involves exertive rhythmic movement to music. It is often conducted in a social environment and often involves synchronization. It has been found to cause dancers to bond socially. Like conversation, it has been suggested that dancing may be an inexpensive form of social bonding, in that both activities facilitate efficient group bonding by allowing multiple individuals to bond simultaneously. However, no previous study has systematically observed the size of naturally occurring dance groups. During unobtrusive observation of natural dance and conversation behavior, we fo...
Source: Ethology - July 26, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Cole Robertson, Bronwyn Tarr, Mary Kempnich, Robin Dunbar Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Male territorial aggression does not drive conformity to local vocal culture in a passerine bird
Abstract
In many songbird species, young individuals learn songs from neighbors and then settle nearby, thus creating neighborhoods of conformity to local vocal culture. In some species, individuals appear to postpone song learning until after dispersal, possibly to facilitate conformity to local dialects. Despite decades of study, we still lack a consensus regarding the selective pressures driving this delayed song learning. Two common hypothetical benefits to conformity, and thus delayed song learning, are rooted in territorial interactions; individuals preferentially produce local song either to avoid detection as new a...
Source: Ethology - July 26, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Marcelina Parra, Anthony C. Dalisio, William E. Jensen, Timothy H. Parker Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Personality predicts ectoparasite abundance in an asocial sciurid
Abstract
Parasitism is a consequence of complex interactions between host, parasite, and their shared environment, and host behavior can influence parasite risk. Animal personality (i.e., consistent behavioral differences that are repeatable across time and context) can influence parasitism with more explorative individuals typically hosting greater parasite loads. Host “sociality” is known to impact parasite risk with more social individuals typically at higher risk of acquiring or transmitting parasites, but other behaviors could also be important. We quantified personality in least chipmunks (Tamias minimus), includ...
Source: Ethology - July 26, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Shelby J. Bohn, Quinn M. R. Webber, Katie R. N. Florko, Katlyn R. Paslawski, Amelia M. Peterson, Julia E. Piche, Allyson K. Menzies, Craig K. R. Willis Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Sexually dimorphic effect of mating on the melanotic encapsulation response in the harem ‐defending Wellington tree weta, Hemideina crassidens (Orthoptera: Tettigonioidea: Anostostomatidae)
Abstract
Reproductive activities are generally costly to immune responsiveness because limited resources required by reproduction are diverted away from immunity (and vice versa). Reproduction, however, is not expected to affect the immune response in males and females similarly as mating is expected to negatively affect male immunity more so than female immunity. Here, I test the phenotypic plasticity hypothesis in the Wellington tree weta (Hemideina crassidens), a sexually dimorphic orthopteran insect that is endemic to New Zealand. My laboratory experiment showed that although males had higher rates of melanotic encapsu...
Source: Ethology - July 26, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Clint D. Kelly Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Feel good, do good? Disentangling reciprocity from unconditional prosociality
Abstract
Direct and generalised reciprocity can establish evolutionarily stable levels of cooperation among unrelated individuals, with animals reciprocating help based on whether they have been helped by a social partner before. It has been argued that the actual cooperative act by a social partner may be of minor importance for seemingly reciprocal cooperation and that a mere positive experience might suffice to enhance helpful behaviour towards a conspecific (‘feel good, do good’). However, this effect could easily be exploited by defectors free‐riding on an individual's enhanced propensity to cooperate after an u...
Source: Ethology - July 17, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Res Schmid, Karin Schneeberger, Michael Taborsky Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
Female wolf spiders exert cryptic control drastically reducing ejaculate size
Abstract
Sexes' roles in post‐copulatory processes have important effects on individual fitness and are promising to study in species showing complex mating behaviours. In the spider Schizocosa malitiosa, males perform two different copulatory patterns, pattern 1 includes 80% of total pedipalp insertions and pattern 2 includes 20%. Both patterns produce similar number of offspring, but pattern 1 induces higher female reluctance to remating than pattern 2. We hypothesised that the complex copulatory patterns are linked to post‐copulatory sexual selection, affecting males' sperm transfer and the resulting sperm storage b...
Source: Ethology - July 5, 2017 Category: Zoology Authors: Maria J. Albo, Fernando G. Costa Tags: RESEARCH PAPER Source Type: research
