1
|
Sakai O, Yokohata D, Hotta T. Boldness affects novel object recognition in a gecko species. Behav Processes 2024; 220:105072. [PMID: 38914379 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2024] [Revised: 06/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
Individual animals exhibit considerable differences in cognitive characteristics associated with personality differences. The cognition-personality link was intensively investigated in the last decade though with mixed results. To grasp the general pattern, a common method should be applied to a wide range of animals. We tested novel object recognition (NOR) in the mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris) and investigated whether boldness, assessed in an anti-predator context, explained neophobia and how much attention animals pay to their surroundings. Boldness did not simply explain object neophobia but predicted attention to novel objects. Specifically, shy geckos showed shorter latency to approach the novel object than bold geckos only in the changed situation in which distinct types of objects were presented in two successive phases. However, no significant effect of boldness was detected in the unchanged situation in which the same object was presented twice. Our findings suggest that, in the mourning gecko, (1) boldness and object neophobia represent different aspects of personality traits and that (2) boldness underlies sensitivity to slight changes in the environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Osamu Sakai
- Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto; Department of Environment Conservation, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo.
| | - Daichi Yokohata
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto
| | - Takashi Hotta
- Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fernández-Lázaro G, Latorre R, Fontanillas Pérez JC, Barja I. Reaction to Novel Objects and Fecal Glucocorticoid Metabolite Levels in Two Species of Nocturnal Geckos. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3384. [PMID: 37958139 PMCID: PMC10649715 DOI: 10.3390/ani13213384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Many reptiles are maintained in captivity and heavily traded, although welfare measures for many species are not well established and are under-researched compared to other animals. In this study, we focused on two of these species: crested geckos (Correlophus ciliatus) and leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). To better interpret their behavior in captivity, the individual reaction to novel objects and the fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were measured in an attempt to identify the potential correlation between them. Also, we explored if some characteristic of the objects (e.g., color, shape, or smell) resulted in being more attractive to some species and/or individuals. Equivalent responses to different objects were not obtained for all the geckos, the behavioral response being highly individual and context-dependent, although modulated by the species. Individuals which manipulated earlier and interacted longer with novel objects showed lower basal fecal corticosterone metabolite (FCM) levels. Differences according to the species suggested that crested geckos have significantly greater and more variable FCM levels than leopard geckos. Our results can help to understand the reaction of geckos to novelty and have the potential to serve in their welfare assessment, although more studies are needed to proper establish welfare protocols.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gloria Fernández-Lázaro
- Departamento de Psicología Biológica y de la Salud, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, Sociales y Matemáticas, Facultad de Educación, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Latorre
- Departamento de Ingeniería Informática, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain;
| | | | - Isabel Barja
- Eco- and Ethophysiology Lab, Departamento de Biología, Unidad de Zoología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain;
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C. Darwin 2, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Hastings BT, Melnyk A, Ghyabi M, White E, Barroso FM, Carretero MA, Lattanzi D, Claude J, Chiari Y. Melanistic coloration does not influence thermoregulation in the crepuscular gecko Eublepharis macularius. Biol Open 2023; 12:bio060114. [PMID: 37756597 PMCID: PMC10651090 DOI: 10.1242/bio.060114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Body coloration in ectotherms serves multiple biological functions, including avoiding predators, communicating with conspecific individuals, and involvement in thermoregulation. As ectotherms rely on environmental sources of heat to regulate their internal body temperature, stable melanistic body coloration or color change can be used to increase or decrease heat absorption and heat exchange with the environment. While melanistic coloration for thermoregulation functions to increase solar radiation absorption and consequently heating in many diurnal ectotherms, research on crepuscular and nocturnal ectotherms is lacking. Since crepuscular and nocturnal ectotherms generally absorb heat from the substrate, in these organisms melanistic coloration may have other primary functions beside thermoregulation. As such, in this work we hypothesized that the proportion of dorsal melanistic body coloration would not influence heating and cooling rates in the crepuscular gecko, Eublepharis macularius, and that changes in environmental temperature would not trigger color changes in this species. Temperature measurements of the geckos and of the environment were taken using infrared thermography and temperature loggers. Color data were obtained using objective photography and a newly developed custom software package. We found that body temperature reflected substrate temperatures, and that the proportion of melanistic coloration has no influence on heating or cooling rates or on color changes. These findings support that melanistic coloration in E. macularius may not be used for thermoregulation and strengthen the hypothesis that in animals active in low light conditions, melanistic coloration may be used instead for camouflage or other functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Anastasiya Melnyk
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| | - Mehrdad Ghyabi
- Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| | - Emma White
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| | - Frederico M. Barroso
- CIBIO, Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
| | - Miguel A. Carretero
- CIBIO, Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
| | - David Lattanzi
- Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| | - Julien Claude
- Institute of Evolutionary Science of Montpellier, University of Montpellier/CNRS/IRD, Montpellier 34095, France
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Ylenia Chiari
- Department of Biology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Fear of the new? Geckos hesitate to attack novel prey, feed near objects and enter a novel space. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:537-549. [PMID: 36171484 PMCID: PMC9950209 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01693-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Neophobia, the fear of novelty, is an ecologically important response which enables animals to avoid potentially harmful situations. Neophobia is a cognitive process by which individuals distinguish novelty from familiarity. In this study, we aimed to quantify this cognitive process in captive tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) across three contexts: when encountering novel prey, foraging near novel objects and entering a novel space. We also investigated individual consistency across trials using different novel stimuli, and correlation of individual responses across the three contexts. We found that geckos hesitate to attack novel prey and prey close to objects (familiar and novel). Geckos hesitated the most when entering novel space. Repeatability of behaviour within and across contexts was low (R = 0.101-0.190) indicating that neophobia might not be expressed similarly across contexts. The strength of a neophobic response can indicate how anxious or curious an individual is. This test has great potential to help answer questions about how captivity, enrichment, rearing environment and cognition affect fear responses in different contexts in lizards. By studying reptiles, we can better understand the universality of what is known about the causes leading to difference in neophobia across individuals and species.
Collapse
|
5
|
Katlein N, Ray M, Wilkinson A, Claude J, Kiskowski M, Wang B, Glaberman S, Chiari Y. Does colour impact responses to images in geckos? J Zool (1987) 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- N. Katlein
- Department of Biology University of South Alabama Mobile AL USA
| | - M. Ray
- Department of Biology University of South Alabama Mobile AL USA
| | - A. Wilkinson
- School of Life Sciences University of Lincoln Lincoln UK
| | - J. Claude
- UMR UM/CNRS/IRD/EPHE Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier MontpellierFrance
| | - M. Kiskowski
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of South Alabama Mobile AL USA
| | - B. Wang
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of South Alabama Mobile AL USA
| | - S. Glaberman
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy George Mason University Fairfax VA USA
| | - Y. Chiari
- Department of Biology University of South Alabama Mobile AL USA
- Department of Biology George Mason University Fairfax VA USA
| |
Collapse
|