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Štolhoferová I, Rudolfová V, Skalíková H, Vobrubová B, Frynta D. How to explore a new environment: exploratory tactics of the black rat ( Rattus rattus). Curr Zool 2024; 70:371-382. [PMID: 39035763 PMCID: PMC11255999 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoae015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The black rat (Rattus rattus) is a unique model for studying exploratory tactics due to its enormous colonizing potential. Considerable behavioral variability and consistent interindividual differences might help populations inhabit new environments and persist there even under intense pressure. Additionally, the affinity of the black rat for climbing might be another advantage, widening their potential niche. In this study, we describe the exploratory tactics of the black rats when introduced to a novel environment. In the first experiment, we tested 12 rats and calculated repeatability of their behaviors across 12 sessions of an enriched open-field test. We concluded that climbing is a highly repeatable behavior that serves as an important source of interindividual variability. In the second experiment, we tested 24 black rats in a unique L-shaped arena. Each rat was tested twice. We found that the majority of rats distributed their activity evenly, exploring each part of the apparatus for a similar amount of time, thus maximizing their chances of finding resources. Nevertheless, these "even" explorers still greatly differed in their level of activity, orderliness and affinity for climbing, generating large variability. In contrast, the minority of rats concentrated their activity only on a section of the new environment and were therefore characterized as selective explorers. Overall, we concluded that a combination of such exploratory tactics as well as a bias for even explorers enables black rats to quickly colonize new environments and persist there even under unfavorable conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iveta Štolhoferová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 43 Prague 2, Czechia
| | - Veronika Rudolfová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 43 Prague 2, Czechia
| | - Hana Skalíková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 43 Prague 2, Czechia
| | - Barbora Vobrubová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 43 Prague 2, Czechia
| | - Daniel Frynta
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 43 Prague 2, Czechia
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Tchabovsky AV, Surkova EN, Savinetskaya LE. Multi-assay approach shows species-associated personality patterns in two socially distinct gerbil species. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0296214. [PMID: 38625985 PMCID: PMC11020386 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024] Open
Abstract
We aimed to investigate whether two closely related but socially distinct species of gerbils differ in personality patterns. Using a suit of multivariate repeated assays (docility test, dark-light emergence test, startle test, novel object test, elevated platform test, and stranger test), we assessed contextual and temporal consistency of docility, boldness, exploration, anxiety, and sociability in the solitary midday gerbil, Meriones meridianus, and social Mongolian gerbil, M. unguiculatus. We revealed contextually consistent and highly repeatable sex-independent but species-specific personality traits. Species differed in temporal repeatability of different behaviours, and contextual consistency was more pronounced in solitary M. meridianus than in social M. unguiculatus. This finding contradicts the social niche specialization hypothesis, which suggests that personality traits should be more consistent in more social species. Instead, we hypothesize that social complexity should favour more flexible and less consistent behavioural traits. The habituation effect indicative of learning abilities was weak in both species yet stronger in social M. unguiculatus, supporting the relationship between the sociality level and cognitive skills. In both species, only a few different behavioural traits covaried, and the sets of correlated behaviours were species-specific such that the two species did not share any pair of correlated traits. Between-species differences in personality traits, habituation, and behavioural syndromes may be linked to differences in sociality. The lack of prominent behavioural syndromes is consistent with the idea that context-specific individual behavioural traits might be favoured to allow more flexible and adequate responses to changing environments than syndromes of correlated functionally different behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrey V. Tchabovsky
- Laboratory for Population Ecology, Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena N. Surkova
- Laboratory for Population Ecology, Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ludmila E. Savinetskaya
- Laboratory for Population Ecology, Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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Macholán M, Daniszová K, Hiadlovská Z. The Expansion of House Mouse Major Urinary Protein Genes Likely Did Not Facilitate Commensalism with Humans. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:2090. [PMID: 38003032 PMCID: PMC10671799 DOI: 10.3390/genes14112090] [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: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Mouse wild-derived strains (WDSs) combine the advantages of classical laboratory stocks and wild animals, and thus appear to be promising tools for diverse biomedical and evolutionary studies. We employed 18 WDSs representing three non-synanthropic species (Mus spretus, Mus spicilegus, and M. macedonicus) and three house mouse subspecies (Mus musculus musculus, M. m. domesticus, M. m. castaneus), which are all important human commensals to explore whether the number of major urinary protein (MUP) genes and their final protein levels in urine are correlated with the level of commensalism. Contrary to expectations, the MUP copy number (CN) and protein excretion in the strains derived from M. m. castaneus, which is supposed to be the strongest commensal, were not significantly different from the non-commensal species. Regardless of an overall tendency for higher MUP amounts in taxa with a higher CN, there was no significant correlation at the strain level. Our study thus suggests that expansion of the Mup cluster, which appeared before the house mouse diversification, is unlikely to facilitate commensalism with humans in three house mouse subspecies. Finally, we found considerable variation among con(sub)specific WDSs, warning against generalisations of results based on a few strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miloš Macholán
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Laboratory of Mammalian Evolutionary Genetics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, 601 77 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Kristina Daniszová
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Laboratory of Mammalian Evolutionary Genetics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Zuzana Hiadlovská
- Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Laboratory of Mammalian Evolutionary Genetics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic
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Prabh N, Linnenbrink M, Jovicic M, Guenther A. Fast adjustment of pace-of-life and risk-taking to changes in food quality by altered gene expression in house mice. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:99-110. [PMID: 36366786 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14137] [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: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
The pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis provides a framework for the adaptive integration of behaviour, physiology and life history between and within species. It suggests that behaviours involving a risk of death or injury should co-vary with a higher allocation to fast reproduction. Empirical support for this hypothesis is mixed, presumably because important influencing factors such as environmental variation, are usually neglected. By experimentally manipulating food quality of wild mice living under semi-natural conditions for three generations, we show that individuals adjust their life history strategies and risk-taking behaviours as well as trait covariation (Nindividuals = 1442). These phenotypic differences are correlated to differences in transcriptomic gene expression of primary metabolic processes in the liver while no changes in gene frequencies occurred. Our discussion emphasises the need to integrate the role of environmental conditions and phenotypic plasticity in shaping relationships among behaviour, physiology and life history in response to changing environmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neel Prabh
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | | | - Milan Jovicic
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
| | - Anja Guenther
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany
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Rudolfová V, Petrásek T, Antošová E, Frynta D, Landová E, Valeš K, Nekovářová T. Inter-individual differences in laboratory rats as revealed by three behavioural tasks. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9361. [PMID: 35672428 PMCID: PMC9174278 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-13288-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Stable inter-individual differences in behaviour and personality have been studied for several decades now. The aim of this study was to test the repeatability of behaviour of the Long Evans strain of laboratory rats in order to assess their inter-individual differences. Male laboratory rats (n = 36) were tested in a series of tasks (Open field test, Elevated plus maze test, and modified T-maze test) repeated over time to assess their personality traits. To evaluate the temporal stability of the behaviour, we calculated repeatability estimates of the examined traits. We also checked for a link in behavioural traits across these experiments, which would suggest the existence of a behavioural syndrome. We found stable inter-individual differences in behaviour. Interestingly, no link emerged between the tasks we studied and therefore we did not find support for a behavioural syndrome. The lack of behavioural correlations between these experiments suggests that the results derived from these tasks should be interpreted carefully, as these experiments may measure various behavioural axes. Moreover, the animals habituate to the apparatus. Consequently, behaviour in the Open field test and Elevated plus maze test is not fully consistent and repeatable across subsequent trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Rudolfová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Petrásek
- Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
| | - Eliška Antošová
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Daniel Frynta
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Eva Landová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Karel Valeš
- Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
| | - Tereza Nekovářová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
- Institute of Physiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic.
- Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
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Novelty at second glance: a critical appraisal of the novel object paradigm based on meta-analysis. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Zenth F, DeRango EJ, Krüger O, Piedrahita P, Páez-Rosas D, Schwarz JF. More than the sum of its parts: individual behavioural phenotypes of a wild pinniped. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Mouchet A, Dingemanse NJ. A quantitative genetics approach to validate lab- versus field-based behavior in novel environments. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Conclusions about the adaptive nature of repeatable variation in behavior (i.e., “personality”) are often derived from laboratory-based assays. However, the expression of genetic variation differs between laboratory and field. Laboratory-based behavior might not predict field-based behavior thus, cross-context validation is required. We estimated the cross-context correlation between behavior expressed by wild great tits (Parus major) in established laboratory versus field novel environment assays. Both assays have been used as proxies for “exploration tendency.” Behavior in both contexts had similar repeatability (R = 0.35 vs. 0.37) but differed in heritability (h2 = 0.06 vs. 0.23), implying differences in selection pressures. Unexpectedly, there was no cross-context correlation. Laboratory- and field-based behavior thus reflected expressions of two distinct underlying characters. Post hoc simulations revealed that sampling bias did not explain the lack of correlation. Laboratory-based behavior may reflect fear and exploration, but field-based behavior may reflect escape behavior instead, though other functional interpretations cannot be excluded. Thus, in great tits, activity expressed in laboratory versus field novel environment assays is modulated by multiple quasi-independent characters. The lack of cross-context correlation shown here may also apply to other setups, other repeatable behaviors, and other taxa. Our study thus implies care should be taken in labeling behaviors prior to firm validation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexia Mouchet
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Großhaderner Straße, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Großhaderner Straße, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
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Santicchia F, Van Dongen S, Martinoli A, Preatoni D, Wauters LA. Measuring personality traits in Eurasian red squirrels: A critical comparison of different methods. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Santicchia
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group Università degli Studi dell’Insubria Varese Italy
| | - Stefan Van Dongen
- Department of Biology Evolutionary Ecology Group University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
| | - Adriano Martinoli
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group Università degli Studi dell’Insubria Varese Italy
| | - Damiano Preatoni
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group Università degli Studi dell’Insubria Varese Italy
| | - Lucas Armand Wauters
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences Environment Analysis and Management Unit, Guido Tosi Research Group Università degli Studi dell’Insubria Varese Italy
- Department of Biology Evolutionary Ecology Group University of Antwerp Wilrijk Belgium
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10
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Rohrer KN, Ferkin MH. Long‐term repeatability and stability of three personality traits in meadow voles. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Karl N. Rohrer
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Memphis Memphis TN USA
| | - Michael H. Ferkin
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Memphis Memphis TN USA
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Dhellemmes F, Finger JS, Smukall MJ, Gruber SH, Guttridge TL, Laskowski KL, Krause J. Personality-driven life history trade-offs differ in two subpopulations of free-ranging predators. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:260-272. [PMID: 32720305 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Consistent individual differences in behaviour (i.e. personality) can be explained in an evolutionary context if they are favoured by life history trade-offs as conceptualized in the pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis. Theory predicts that faster-growing individuals suffer higher mortality and that this trade-off is mediated through exploration/risk-taking personality, but empirical support for this remains limited and ambiguous. Equivocal support to the POLS hypothesis suggests that the link between life history and personality may only emerge under certain circumstances. Understanding personality-driven trade-offs would be facilitated by long-term studies in wild populations experiencing different ecological conditions. Here, we tested whether personality measured in semi-captivity was associated with a growth-mortality trade-off via risk-taking in the wild in two subpopulations of juvenile lemon sharks Negaprion brevirostris known to differ in their predator abundance. We expected stronger personality-driven trade-offs in the predator-rich environment as compared to the predator-poor environment. Sharks were captured yearly from 1995 onwards allowing us to obtain long-term data on growth and apparent survival in each subpopulation. We then used a novel open-field assay to test sharks for exploration personality yearly from 2012 to 2017. A subset of the tested sharks was monitored in the field using telemetry to document risk-taking behaviours. We tested (a) if fast explorers in captivity took more risks and grew faster in the wild and (b) if natural selection acted against more explorative, faster-growing sharks. In the subpopulation with fewer predators, more explorative sharks in captivity took more risks in the wild and grew faster. In turn, larger, fast-growing sharks had lower apparent survival. In the predator-rich subpopulation, despite finding selection on fast growth, we found no link between exploration personality and the growth-mortality trade-off. Our study demonstrates that the association between personality and life history is favoured in some ecological contexts but not in others. We identify predator and resource abundance as two main potential drivers of the personality-mediated trade-off and emphasize that future work on the POLS hypothesis would benefit from an approach integrating behaviour and life history across ecological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Félicie Dhellemmes
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.,Faculty of Life Sciences, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, South Bimini, Bahamas
| | | | - Matthew J Smukall
- Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, South Bimini, Bahamas.,College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Samuel H Gruber
- Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, South Bimini, Bahamas
| | - Tristan L Guttridge
- Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, South Bimini, Bahamas.,Saving the Blue, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Kate L Laskowski
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jens Krause
- Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.,Faculty of Life Sciences, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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