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Baker CJ, Class B, Dwyer RG, Franklin CE, Campbell HA, Irwin TR, Frère CH. Active crocodiles are less sociable. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220528. [PMID: 39230456 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024] Open
Abstract
How animals move and associate with conspecifics is rarely random, with a population's spatial structure forming the foundation on which the social behaviours of individuals form. Studies examining the spatial-social interface typically measure averaged behavioural differences between individuals; however, this neglects the inherent variation present within individuals and how it may impact the spatial-social interface. Here, we investigated differences in among-individual (co)variance in sociability, activity and site fidelity in a population of wild estuarine crocodiles, Crocodylus porosus, across a 10-year period. By monitoring 118 crocodiles using coded acoustic transmitters and an array of fixed underwater receivers, we discovered that not only did individual crocodiles repeatably differ (among-individual variation) in each behaviour measured but also in how consistently they expressed these behaviours through time (within-individual variation). As expected, crocodile activity and sociability formed a behavioural syndrome, with more active individuals being less sociable. Interestingly, we also found that individuals that were either more sociable or displayed greater site fidelity were also more specialized (lower within-individual variation) in these behaviours. Together, our results provide important empirical evidence for the interplay between spatial, temporal and social individual-level behavioural variation and how these contribute to forming behavioural niches. This article is part of the theme issue 'The spatial-social interface: a theoretical and empirical integration'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron J Baker
- Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University , Darwin, Northern Territory 0815, Australia
- The School of the Environment, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Barbara Class
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München , Munich 80539, Germany
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast , Sippy Downs, Queensland 4556, Australia
| | - Ross G Dwyer
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast , Sippy Downs, Queensland 4556, Australia
| | - Craig E Franklin
- The School of the Environment, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Hamish A Campbell
- Research Institute for Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University , Darwin, Northern Territory 0815, Australia
| | - Terri R Irwin
- Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin Way , Beerwah, Queensland 4519, Australia
| | - Céline H Frère
- The School of the Environment, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
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2
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Brand JA, Aich U, Yee WKW, Wong BBM, Dowling DK. Sexual Selection Increases Male Behavioral Consistency in Drosophila melanogaster. Am Nat 2024; 203:713-725. [PMID: 38781526 DOI: 10.1086/729600] [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] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
AbstractSexual selection has been suggested to influence the expression of male behavioral consistency. However, despite predictions, direct experimental support for this hypothesis has been lacking. Here, we investigated whether sexual selection altered male behavioral consistency in Drosophila melanogaster-a species with both pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection. We took 1,144 measures of locomotor activity (a fitness-related trait in D. melanogaster) from 286 flies derived from replicated populations that have experimentally evolved under either high or low levels of sexual selection for >320 generations. We found that high sexual selection males were more consistent (decreased within-individual variance) in their locomotor activity than male conspecifics from low sexual selection populations. There were no differences in behavioral consistency between females from the high and low sexual selection populations. Furthermore, while females were more behaviorally consistent than males in the low sexual selection populations, there were no sex differences in behavioral consistency in high sexual selection populations. Our results demonstrate that behavioral plasticity is reduced in males from populations exposed to high levels of sexual selection. Disentangling whether these effects represent an evolved response to changes in the intensity of selection or are manifested through nongenetic parental effects represents a challenge for future research.
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Ogino M, Maldonado-Chaparro AA, Aplin LM, Farine DR. Group-level differences in social network structure remain repeatable after accounting for environmental drivers. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230340. [PMID: 37476518 PMCID: PMC10354494 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
Individuals show consistent between-individual behavioural variation when they interact with conspecifics or heterospecifics. Such patterns might underlie emergent group-specific behavioural patterns and between-group behavioural differences. However, little is known about (i) how social and non-social drivers (external drivers) shape group-level social structures and (ii) whether animal groups show consistent between-group differences in social structure after accounting for external drivers. We used automated tracking to quantify daily social interactions and association networks in 12 colonies of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We quantified the effects of five external drivers (group size, group composition, ecological factors, physical environments and methodological differences) on daily interaction and association networks and tested whether colonies expressed consistent differences in day-to-day network structure after controlling for these drivers. Overall, we found that external drivers contribute significantly to network structure. However, even after accounting for the contribution of external drivers, there remained significant support for consistent between-group differences in both interaction (repeatability R: up to 0.493) and association (repeatability R: up to 0.736) network structures. Our study demonstrates how group-level differences in social behaviour can be partitioned into different drivers of variation, with consistent contributions from both social and non-social factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mina Ogino
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz 78467, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich 8006, Switzerland
| | - Adriana A. Maldonado-Chaparro
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz 78467, Germany
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Cra 26 # 63B – 48, Colombia
| | - Lucy M. Aplin
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell 78315, Germany
| | - Damien R. Farine
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz 78464, Germany
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz 78467, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich 8006, Switzerland
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4
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Delmé C, Jackson N, Class B, Strickland K, Potvin DA, Frère CH. Adaptive significance of affiliative behaviour differs between sexes in a wild reptile population. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230805. [PMID: 37339740 PMCID: PMC10281801 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0805] [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: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, we have begun to appreciate that social behaviours might exhibit repeatable among-individual variation. Such behavioural traits may even covary and have critical evolutionary implications. Importantly, some social behaviours such as aggressiveness have been shown to provide fitness benefits, including higher reproductive success and survival. However, fitness consequences of affiliative behaviours, especially between or among sexes, can be more challenging to establish. Using a longitudinal behavioural dataset (2014-2021) collected on eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), we investigated whether various aspects of affiliative behaviour (i) were repeatable across years, (ii) covaried with each other at the among-individual level, and (iii) influenced individuals' fitness. In particular, we considered affiliative behaviours towards opposite-sex and same-sex conspecifics separately. We found that social traits were repeatable and covaried with each other similarly for both sexes. More notably, we found that male reproductive success was positively correlated with the number of female associates and the proportion of time spent with females, while females' reproductive success was not correlated with any of the measured social behaviour metrics. Overall, these findings suggest that selection may be acting differently on social behaviour of male and female eastern water dragons.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. Delmé
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - N. Jackson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - B. Class
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - K. Strickland
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - D. A. Potvin
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - C. H. Frère
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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McMahon EK, Farhan S, Cavigelli SA. How do we characterize temperament? Broad testing of temperament across time and contexts in low-variable conditions. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Waldron BP, Ganzfried MC, Hickerson CAM, Anthony CD. Repeatability of foraging behavior following a simulated predation attempt depends on color morph, sex, and foraging metric in Red-backed salamanders ( Plethodon cinereus). ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1941268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brian P. Waldron
- Department of Biology, John Carroll University, 1 John Carroll Blvd, University Heights, OH 44118, USA
| | - Marissa C. Ganzfried
- Department of Biology, John Carroll University, 1 John Carroll Blvd, University Heights, OH 44118, USA
| | - Cari-Ann M. Hickerson
- Department of Biology, John Carroll University, 1 John Carroll Blvd, University Heights, OH 44118, USA
| | - Carl D. Anthony
- Department of Biology, John Carroll University, 1 John Carroll Blvd, University Heights, OH 44118, USA
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Cook PA, Baker OM, Costello RA, Formica VA, Brodie ED. Group composition of individual personalities alters social network structure in experimental populations of forked fungus beetles. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210509. [PMID: 35291883 PMCID: PMC8923822 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Social network structure is a critical group character that mediates the flow of information, pathogens and resources among individuals in a population, yet little is known about what shapes social structures. In this study, we experimentally tested whether social network structure depends on the personalities of individual group members. Replicate groups of forked fungus beetles (Bolitotherus cornutus) were engineered to include only members previously assessed as either more social or less social. We found that individuals expressed consistent personalities across social contexts, exhibiting repeatable numbers of interactions and numbers of partners. Groups composed of more social individuals formed networks with higher interaction rates, higher tie density, higher global clustering and shorter average shortest paths than those composed of less social individuals. We highlight group composition of personalities as a source of variance in group traits and a potential mechanism by which networks could evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phoebe A. Cook
- Department of Biology and Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | - Olivia M. Baker
- Department of Biology and Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | - Robin A. Costello
- Department of Biology and Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | | | - Edmund D. Brodie
- Department of Biology and Mountain Lake Biological Station, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
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Baker CJ, Frère CH, Franklin CE, Campbell HA, Irwin TR, Dwyer RG. Crocodile social environments dictated by male philopatry. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Examining the social behaviors of solitary species can be challenging due to the rarity in which interactions occur and the large and often inaccessible areas which these animals inhabit. As shared space-use is a prerequisite for the expression of social behaviors, we can gain insights into the social environments of solitary species by examining the degree of spatial overlap between individuals. Over a 10-year period, we examined how spatial overlap amongst 105 estuarine crocodiles Crocodylus porosus was influenced by season, sex, and movement tactic. We discovered that crocodiles displayed highly consistent spatial overlaps with conspecifics between months and across years. Furthermore, male crocodiles that exhibited a greater degree of site fidelity displayed more stable social environments, while females and males that were less site-attached had more dynamic social environments with spatial overlaps between conspecifics peaking during the mating season. Our results demonstrate how long-term tracking of multiple individuals within the same population can be used to quantify the spatial structure and social environment of cryptic and solitary species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron J Baker
- The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Céline H Frère
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Australia
| | - Craig E Franklin
- The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Hamish A Campbell
- Research Institute for Environment & Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
| | - Terri R Irwin
- Australia Zoo, 1638 Steve Irwin Way, Beerwah, Australia
| | - Ross G Dwyer
- The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Australia
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Le Balle R, Cote J, Fernandez FAS. Evidence for animal personalities in two Brazilian tortoises (Chelonoidis denticulatus and Chelonoidis carbonarius) and insights for their conservation. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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10
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Lifetime stability of social traits in bottlenose dolphins. Commun Biol 2021; 4:759. [PMID: 34145380 PMCID: PMC8213821 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02292-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral phenotypic traits or “animal personalities” drive critical evolutionary processes such as fitness, disease and information spread. Yet the stability of behavioral traits, essential by definition, has rarely been measured over developmentally significant periods of time, limiting our understanding of how behavioral stability interacts with ontogeny. Based on 32 years of social behavioral data for 179 wild bottlenose dolphins, we show that social traits (associate number, time alone and in large groups) are stable from infancy to late adulthood. Multivariate analysis revealed strong relationships between these stable metrics within individuals, suggesting a complex behavioral syndrome comparable to human extraversion. Maternal effects (particularly vertical social learning) and sex-specific reproductive strategies are likely proximate and ultimate drivers for these patterns. We provide rare empirical evidence to demonstrate the persistence of social behavioral traits over decades in a non-human animal. Taylor Evans et al. present analyses based on 32 years of observations of dolphin social behaviour in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Their findings indicate that individual social traits, such as preference for time spent alone vs in groups, remain stable throughout an individual’s lifetime, despite physiological and social changes through adulthood.
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11
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Anwer H, Mason D, Zajitschek S, Noble DWA, Hesselson D, Morris MJ, Lagisz M, Nakagawa S. An efficient new assay for measuring zebrafish anxiety: Tall tanks that better characterize between-individual differences. J Neurosci Methods 2021; 356:109138. [PMID: 33753125 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2021.109138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are increasingly being used to model anxiety. A common behavioral assay employed for assessing anxiety-like behaviors in zebrafish is the "novel tank test". We hypothesized that using deeper tanks in this test would result in greater between-individual variation in behavioral responses and a more 'repeatable' assay. NEW METHODS After mapping the literature and identifying common behavioral parameters used in analysis, we performed novel tank anxiety tests in both custom-designed 'tall' tanks with increased depth and 'short' trapezoidal tanks. We compared the repeatability of the behavioral parameters between tall and short tanks and also investigated sex differences. RESULTS Overall, regardless of tank depth, almost all behavioral parameters associated with anxiety in zebrafish were significantly repeatable (R = 0.24 to 0.60). Importantly, our tall tanks better captured between-individual differences, resulting in higher repeatability estimates (average repeatability tall tanks: R = 0.46; average repeatability short tanks: R = 0.36) and clearer sex differences. CONCLUSIONS Our assay using tall tanks has advantages over tests based on short tanks which underestimate repeatability. We argue that use of deeper tanks will improve the reliability of behavioral data across studies using novel tank tests for zebrafish. Our results also call for increased attention in designing the most appropriate assay in biomedical and behavioral sciences as current methods may lack the sensitivity to detect subtle, yet important, information, such as between-individual variation, an important component in assessing the reliability of behavioral data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamza Anwer
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Diabetes and Metabolism Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
| | - Dominic Mason
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Diabetes and Metabolism Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia
| | - Susanne Zajitschek
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Diabetes and Metabolism Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia; Liverpool John Moores University, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool, L3 3 AF, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel W A Noble
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia
| | - Daniel Hesselson
- Diabetes and Metabolism Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia; Centenary Institute and Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Margaret J Morris
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Malgorzata Lagisz
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Diabetes and Metabolism Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Diabetes and Metabolism Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia
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12
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Plaza M, Burke T, Cox T, Flynn‐Carroll A, Girndt A, Halford G, Martin DA, Sanchez‐Fortún M, Sánchez‐Tójar A, Somerville J, Schroeder J. Repeatable social network node‐based metrics across populations and contexts in a passerine. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:1634-1642. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Revised: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mireia Plaza
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London Ascot UK
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology National Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC) Madrid Spain
| | - Terry Burke
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences University of Sheffield Sheffield UK
| | - Tara Cox
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London Ascot UK
| | | | - Antje Girndt
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Seewiesen Germany
- International Max‐Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Organismal Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| | | | | | - Moises Sanchez‐Fortún
- Department of Zoology and Anthropology Faculty of Biology University of Barcelona Barcelona Spain
| | - Alfredo Sánchez‐Tójar
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London Ascot UK
- International Max‐Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Organismal Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology Bielefeld University Bielefeld Germany
| | | | - Julia Schroeder
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London Ascot UK
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Piza-Roca C, Schoeman D, Frere C. Fitness benefits of male dominance behaviours depend on the degree of individual inbreeding in a polyandrous lizard. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200097. [PMID: 32429806 PMCID: PMC7287366 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
In polyandrous species, sexual selection extends beyond mating competition to selection for egg fertilization. As a result, the degree to which factors influencing mating success impact overall reproductive success becomes variable. Here, we used a longitudinal behavioural and genetic dataset for a population of eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii) to investigate the degree to which male dominance, a pre-mating selection trait, influences overall reproductive success, measured as the number of surviving offspring. Moreover, we examine the interactive effects with a genetic trait, individual inbreeding, known to influence the reproductive success of males in this species. We found fitness benefits of male dominance, measured as body size and frequency of dominance behaviours displayed. However, individuals' propensity to display dominance behaviours had mixed effects, depending on the degree of inbreeding. While inbred males benefited from frequent displays, highly outbred males exhibited better reproductive outputs when displaying to a lesser extent. Given that outbred males have enhanced reproductive success in this species, the costs of displaying dominance behaviours may outweigh the benefits. Overall, our results demonstrate the fitness benefits of dominance in a polyandrous lizard, and suggest that these are modulated by an independent genetic trait. Our results may contribute to explaining the presence of alternative mating tactics in this species, owing to the variability in net fitness benefits of dominance. Our findings also reveal the challenges associated with investigating fitness traits in isolation, which may undermine the validity of results when important interactions are ignored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen Piza-Roca
- Global-Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - David Schoeman
- Global-Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| | - Celine Frere
- Global-Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
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14
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Littleford-Colquhoun BL, Weyrich LS, Kent N, Frere CH. City life alters the gut microbiome and stable isotope profiling of the eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii). Mol Ecol 2019; 28:4592-4607. [PMID: 31495003 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Urbanisation is one of the most significant threats to biodiversity, due to the rapid and large-scale environmental alterations it imposes on the natural landscape. It is, therefore, imperative that we understand the consequences of and mechanisms by which, species can respond to it. In recent years, research has shown that plasticity of the gut microbiome may be an important mechanism by which animals can adapt to environmental change, yet empirical evidence of this in wild non-model species remains sparse. Using an empirical replicated study system, we show that city life alters the gut microbiome and stable isotope profiling of a wild native non-model species - the eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii) in Queensland, Australia. City dragons exhibit a more diverse gut microbiome than their native habitat counterparts and show gut microbial signatures of a high fat and plant rich diet. Additionally, we also show that city dragons have elevated levels of the Nitrogen-15 isotope in their blood suggesting that a city diet, which incorporates novel anthropogenic food sources, may also be richer in protein. These results highlight the role that gut microbial plasticity plays in an animals' response to human-altered landscapes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bethan L Littleford-Colquhoun
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld, Australia
| | - Laura S Weyrich
- Department of Genetics and Evolution, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.,Centre for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Nicola Kent
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld, Australia
| | - Celine H Frere
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld, Australia
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15
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Strickland K, Frère CH. Individual Variation in the Social Plasticity of Water Dragons. Am Nat 2019; 194:194-206. [DOI: 10.1086/704089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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16
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Eastern water dragons modify their social tactics with respect to the location within their home range. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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17
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