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Bolton PE, Ryder TB, Dakin R, Houtz JL, Moore IT, Balakrishnan CN, Horton BM. Neurogenomic landscape associated with status-dependent cooperative behaviour. Mol Ecol 2024:e17327. [PMID: 38511765 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
The neurogenomic mechanisms mediating male-male reproductive cooperative behaviours remain unknown. We leveraged extensive transcriptomic and behavioural data on a neotropical bird species (Pipra filicauda) that performs cooperative courtship displays to understand these mechanisms. In this species, the cooperative display is modulated by testosterone, which promotes cooperation in non-territorial birds, but suppresses cooperation in territory holders. We sought to understand the neurogenomic underpinnings of three related traits: social status, cooperative display behaviour and testosterone phenotype. To do this, we profiled gene expression in 10 brain nuclei spanning the social decision-making network (SDMN), and two key endocrine tissues that regulate social behaviour. We associated gene expression with each bird's behavioural and endocrine profile derived from 3 years of repeated measures taken from free-living birds in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We found distinct landscapes of constitutive gene expression were associated with social status, testosterone phenotype and cooperation, reflecting the modular organization and engagement of neuroendocrine tissues. Sex-steroid and neuropeptide signalling appeared to be important in mediating status-specific relationships between testosterone and cooperation, suggesting shared regulatory mechanisms with male aggressive and sexual behaviours. We also identified differentially regulated genes involved in cellular activity and synaptic potentiation, suggesting multiple mechanisms underpin these genomic states. Finally, we identified SDMN-wide gene expression differences between territorial and floater males that could form the basis of 'status-specific' neurophysiological phenotypes, potentially mediated by testosterone and growth hormone. Overall, our findings provide new, systems-level insights into the mechanisms of cooperative behaviour and suggest that differences in neurogenomic state are the basis for individual differences in social behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peri E Bolton
- Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - T Brandt Ryder
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Roslyn Dakin
- Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jennifer L Houtz
- Department of Biology, Millersville University, Millersville, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Biology, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ignacio T Moore
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | | | - Brent M Horton
- Department of Biology, Millersville University, Millersville, Pennsylvania, USA
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2
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Baldan D, van Loon EE. Songbird parents coordinate offspring provisioning at fine spatio-temporal scales. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:1316-1326. [PMID: 35437781 PMCID: PMC9321892 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
For parents, rearing offspring together is far from a purely cooperative exercise, as a conflict of interest (‘sexual conflict’) exists over their optimum level of care. Recent theory emphasizes that sexual conflict can be evolutionarily resolved, and complete parental cooperation can occur, if parents directly respond (‘negotiate’) to each other and coordinate their level of care. Despite numerous experiments showing that parents are responsive to each other, we still lack empirical evidence of the behavioural mechanisms by which this negotiation occurs. In this study, we investigated the spatio‐temporal coordination of parental provisioning behaviour as a possible mechanism of negotiation over parental care. We deployed an automated radiotracking technology to track the provisioning activity of wild great tit Parus major pairs during chick rearing. Our analyses represent the first detailed spatial and temporal description of foraging coordination in songbird parents in a natural context. We demonstrate that the foraging behaviour of the two parents is highly coordinated in space and time, with parents changing their foraging locations in conjunction with their partners' movements. Therefore, foraging coordination could be a mechanism by which parents directly monitor and respond to each other's level of investment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Baldan
- Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV, USA
| | - E Emiel van Loon
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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3
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Taborsky B. The Evolution of Social Behaviour. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13212] [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)
- Barbara Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology Division Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland
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4
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Phased contests allow rapid hierarchy formation in paired bumble bee workers. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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5
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Social Systems. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-82879-0_13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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6
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Social Structure. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-82879-0_14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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7
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Cunningham CB. Functional genomics of parental care of insects. Horm Behav 2020; 122:104756. [PMID: 32353447 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Revised: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Parental care was likely the first step most lineages made towards sociality. However, the molecular mechanisms that generate parental care are not broadly characterized. Insects are important as an evolutionary independent group from classic models of parental care, such as, house mice. They provide an opportunity to test the generality of our understanding. With this review, I survey the functional genomics of parental care of insects, summarize several recent advances in the broader framework for studying and understanding parental care, and finish with suggested priorities for further research. Although there are too few studies to draw definitive conclusions, I argue that natural selection appears to be rewiring existing gene networks to produce parental care, that the epigenetic mechanisms influencing parental care are not well understood, and, as an interesting early consensus, that genes strongly associated with carer/offspring interactions appear biased towards proteins that are secreted. I summarize the studies that have functionally validate candidate genes and highlight the increasing need to perform this work. I finish with arguments for both conceptual and practical changes moving forward. I argue that future work can increase the use of predictive frameworks, broaden its definition of conservation of mechanism to gene networks rather than single genes, and increase the use of more established comparative methods. I further highlight the practical considerations of standardizing analyses and reporting, increasing the sampling of both carers and offspring, better characterizing gene regulatory networks, better characterizing taxonomically restricted genes and any consistent role they have underpinning parental care, and using factorial designs to disentangle the influence of multiple variables on the expression of parental care.
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8
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Nyman C, Hebert FO, Bessert‐Nettelbeck M, Aubin‐Horth N, Taborsky B. Transcriptomic signatures of social experience during early development in a highly social cichlid fish. Mol Ecol 2019; 29:610-623. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.15335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Nyman
- Division of Behavioural Ecology Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland
| | - Francois Olivier Hebert
- Département de Biologie and Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes Université Laval Laval QC Canada
| | | | - Nadia Aubin‐Horth
- Département de Biologie and Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes Université Laval Laval QC Canada
| | - Barbara Taborsky
- Division of Behavioural Ecology Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland
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10
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Abstract
The reciprocal exchange of goods and services among social partners is a conundrum in evolutionary biology because of its proneness to cheating, but also the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms involved in such mutual cooperation are hotly debated. Extreme viewpoints range from the assumption that, at the proximate level, observed cases of "direct reciprocity" can be merely explained by basic instrumental and Pavlovian association processes, to the other extreme implying that "cultural factors" must be involved, as is often attributed to reciprocal cooperation among humans. Here we argue that neither one nor the other extreme conception is likely to explain proximate mechanisms underlying reciprocal altruism in animals. In particular, we outline that Pavlovian association processes are not sufficient to explain the documented reciprocal cooperation among Norway rats, as has been recently argued.
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11
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Malé PJG, Turner KM, Doha M, Anreiter I, Allen AM, Sokolowski MB, Frederickson ME. An ant-plant mutualism through the lens of cGMP-dependent kinase genes. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.0896. [PMID: 28904134 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In plant-animal mutualisms, how an animal forages often determines how much benefit its plant partner receives. In many animals, foraging behaviour changes in response to foraging gene expression or activation of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) that foraging encodes. Here, we show that this highly conserved molecular mechanism affects the outcome of a plant-animal mutualism. We studied the two PKG genes of Allomerus octoarticulatus, an Amazonian ant that defends the ant-plant Cordia nodosa against herbivores. Some ant colonies are better 'bodyguards' than others. Working in the field in Peru, we found that colonies fed with a PKG activator recruited more workers to attack herbivores than control colonies. This resulted in less herbivore damage. PKG gene expression in ant workers correlated with whether an ant colony discovered an herbivore and how much damage herbivores inflicted on leaves in a complex way; natural variation in expression levels of the two genes had significant interaction effects on ant behaviour and herbivory. Our results suggest a molecular basis for ant protection of plants in this mutualism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre-Jean G Malé
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Kyle M Turner
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Manjima Doha
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Ina Anreiter
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2.,Child and Brain Development Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), MaRS Centre, West Tower, 661 University Avenue, Suite 505, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1M1
| | - Aaron M Allen
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G5
| | - Marla B Sokolowski
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2.,Child and Brain Development Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), MaRS Centre, West Tower, 661 University Avenue, Suite 505, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1M1
| | - Megan E Frederickson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
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12
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Kasper C, Vierbuchen M, Ernst U, Fischer S, Radersma R, Raulo A, Cunha-Saraiva F, Wu M, Mobley KB, Taborsky B. Genetics and developmental biology of cooperation. Mol Ecol 2017. [PMID: 28626971 DOI: 10.1111/mec.14208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Despite essential progress towards understanding the evolution of cooperative behaviour, we still lack detailed knowledge about its underlying molecular mechanisms, genetic basis, evolutionary dynamics and ontogeny. An international workshop "Genetics and Development of Cooperation," organized by the University of Bern (Switzerland), aimed at discussing the current progress in this research field and suggesting avenues for future research. This review uses the major themes of the meeting as a springboard to synthesize the concepts of genetic and nongenetic inheritance of cooperation, and to review a quantitative genetic framework that allows for the inclusion of indirect genetic effects. Furthermore, we argue that including nongenetic inheritance, such as transgenerational epigenetic effects, parental effects, ecological and cultural inheritance, provides a more nuanced view of the evolution of cooperation. We summarize those genes and molecular pathways in a range of species that seem promising candidates for mechanisms underlying cooperative behaviours. Concerning the neurobiological substrate of cooperation, we suggest three cognitive skills necessary for the ability to cooperate: (i) event memory, (ii) synchrony with others and (iii) responsiveness to others. Taking a closer look at the developmental trajectories that lead to the expression of cooperative behaviours, we discuss the dichotomy between early morphological specialization in social insects and more flexible behavioural specialization in cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Finally, we provide recommendations for which biological systems and species may be particularly suitable, which specific traits and parameters should be measured, what type of approaches should be followed, and which methods should be employed in studies of cooperation to better understand how cooperation evolves and manifests in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Kasper
- Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | | | - Ulrich Ernst
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Stefan Fischer
- Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | | | - Aura Raulo
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Filipa Cunha-Saraiva
- Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Min Wu
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology and Evolution, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Kenyon B Mobley
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Barbara Taborsky
- Institute for Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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13
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Phillips T. The concepts of asymmetric and symmetric power can help resolve the puzzle of altruistic and cooperative behaviour. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2017; 93:457-468. [PMID: 28699275 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2017] [Revised: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary theory predicts competition in nature yet altruistic and cooperative behaviour appears to reduce the ability to compete in order to help others compete better. This evolutionary puzzle is usually explained by kin selection where close relatives perform altruistic and cooperative acts to help each other and by reciprocity theory (i.e. direct, indirect and generalized reciprocity) among non-kin. Here, it is proposed that the concepts of asymmetry and symmetry in power and dominance are critical if we are ever to resolve the puzzle of altruism and cooperation towards non-kin. Asymmetry in power and dominance is likely to emerge under competition in nature as individuals strive to gain greater access to the scarce resources needed to survive and reproduce successfully. Yet asymmetric power presents serious problems for reciprocity theory in that a dominant individual faces a temptation to cheat in interactions with subordinates that is likely to far outweigh any individual selective benefits gained through reciprocal mechanisms. Furthermore, action taken by subordinates to deter non-reciprocation by dominants is likely to prove prohibitively costly to their fitness, making successful enforcement of reciprocal mechanisms unlikely. It is also argued here that many apparently puzzling forms of cooperation observed in nature (e.g. cooperative breeding in which unrelated subordinates help dominants to breed) might be best explained by asymmetry in power and dominance. Once it is recognized that individuals in these cooperative interactions are subject to the constraints and opportunities imposed on them by asymmetric power then they can be seen as pursuing a 'least bad' strategy to promote individual fitness - one that is nevertheless consistent with evolutionary theory. The concept of symmetric power also provides important insights. It can inhibit reciprocal mechanisms in the sense that symmetric power makes it easier for a cheat to appropriate common resources while incurring fewer penalties. Nevertheless under certain restrictive conditions, symmetric power is seen as likely to promote direct reciprocity through 'tit for tat'.
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14
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Nyman C, Fischer S, Aubin-Horth N, Taborsky B. Effect of the early social environment on behavioural and genomic responses to a social challenge in a cooperatively breeding vertebrate. Mol Ecol 2017; 26:3186-3203. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.14113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2016] [Revised: 03/03/2017] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Nyman
- Division of Behavioural Ecology; Institute for Ecology and Evolution; University of Bern; Wohlenstrasse 50A CH-3032 Hinterkappelen Switzerland
| | - Stefan Fischer
- Institute of Integrative Biology; University of Liverpool; Leahurst Campus Chester High Road Neston CH64 7TE UK
| | - Nadia Aubin-Horth
- Département de Biologie et Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes; Université Laval; Quebec Canada G1V OA6
| | - Barbara Taborsky
- Division of Behavioural Ecology; Institute for Ecology and Evolution; University of Bern; Wohlenstrasse 50A CH-3032 Hinterkappelen Switzerland
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15
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Weitekamp CA, Hofmann HA. Neuromolecular correlates of cooperation and conflict during territory defense in a cichlid fish. Horm Behav 2017; 89:145-156. [PMID: 28108326 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2016] [Revised: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 01/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Cooperative behavior is widespread among animals, yet the neural mechanisms have not been studied in detail. We examined cooperative territory defense behavior and associated neural activity in candidate forebrain regions in the cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni. We find that a territorial male neighbor will engage in territory defense dependent on the perceived threat of the intruder. The resident male, on the other hand, engages in defense based on the size and behavior of his partner, the neighbor. In the neighbor, we find that an index of engagement correlates with neural activity in the putative homolog of the mammalian basolateral amygdala and in the preoptic area, as well as in preoptic dopaminergic neurons. In the resident, neighbor behavior is correlated with neural activity in the homolog of the mammalian hippocampus. Overall, we find distinct neural activity patterns between the neighbor and the resident, suggesting that an individual perceives and processes an intruder challenge differently during cooperative territory defense depending on its own behavioral role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chelsea A Weitekamp
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA
| | - Hans A Hofmann
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA; Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA; Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA.
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16
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17
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Taborsky B. Opening the Black Box of Developmental Experiments: Behavioural Mechanisms Underlying Long-Term Effects of Early Social Experience. Ethology 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology; Institute of Ecology and Evolution; University of Bern; Hinterkappelen Switzerland
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