Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Behavior and Ethology
Meta-analysis reveals an extreme “decline effect” in the impacts of ocean acidification on fish behaviour
Published: 2020-09-14
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Ocean acidification – decreasing oceanic pH resulting from the uptake of excess atmospheric CO2 – has the potential to affect marine life in the future. Among the possible consequences, a series of studies on coral reef fishes suggested that the direct effects of acidification on fish behaviour may be extreme and have broad ecological ramifications. Recent studies documenting a lack of effect of [...]
Unifying individual differences in personality, predictability, and plasticity: a practical guide
Published: 2020-08-23
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
1. Many animal species show individual differences in behaviour that are partially consistent across repeated measurements. Commonly referred to as personality traits, differences in average behaviours are often correlated across individuals, forming ‘behavioural syndromes’ (e.g. individuals who are more aggressive are also bolder). 2. Generally, differences in the average behaviour of [...]
Investigating sex differences in genetic relatedness in great-tailed grackles in Tempe, Arizona to infer potential sex biases in dispersal (version 5 of this preprint has been peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community In Ecology [https://doi.org/10.24072/pci.ecology.100074])
Published: 2020-08-23
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
In most bird species, females disperse prior to their first breeding attempt, while males remain closer to the place they hatched for their entire lives. Explanations for such female bias in natal dispersal have focused on the resource-defense based monogamous mating system that is prevalent in most birds. In this system, males are argued to benefit from philopatry because knowing the local [...]
Diet modulates components of animal personality in house sparrows: insights into a possible hormone-mediated mechanism
Published: 2020-08-17
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Animals do not eat whatever food item they find. They usually balance the intake of key nutrients, for example, essential amino acids that cannot be synthesized by animals and must be provided in the diet. However, ability to gain optimal ratios, proportions, and amounts of nutrients may be hampered by a changing environment, competitive conspecifics or species, and predators. Here, we used an [...]
Predation as a driver of behavioural variation and trait integration: effects on personality, plasticity, and predictability
Published: 2020-08-17
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Predation is increasingly viewed as an important driver in maintaining ecological and phenotypic diversity. In contrast to classic evolutionary theory which predicts that predation will shift trait means and erode variance within prey species, several studies indicate higher behavioural trait variance and integration in high predation populations. These results come predominately from [...]
Teaching Animal Behavior in the Midst of a Pandemic: A Primer
Published: 2020-08-01
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Face-to-face classes in animal behavior often stress experiential learning through laboratories that involve observation of live animals, as well as a lecture component that emphasizes formative assessment, discussion and critical thinking. As a result, behavior courses face unique challenges when moving to an online environment, as has been made necessary at many institutions due to the COVID-19 [...]
Function of a multimodal signal: a multiple-hypotheses test using an electromechanical robot
Published: 2020-07-14
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
1. Many animal species communicate using multimodal signals, which are composed of two or more components emitted and interpreted through different sensory modalities. The main types of selective pressures leading to the evolution of multimodal signals are: (1) content-based, when combined components convey information about the signaller, (2) efficacy-based, when combined components increase the [...]
Do the ages of parents or helpers affect offspring fitness in a cooperatively breeding bird?
Published: 2020-06-16
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Age-related changes in either the phenotypes or genotypes of care-givers can impact juvenile performance. However, rarely in wild populations have germline and non-germline transgenerational effects of ageing been separately quantified. In cooperatively breeding animals, in addition to parental ages, the age of ‘helpers’ attending the nest may also impact juvenile performance. Using a wild [...]
Climate change as a catalyst of social evolution
Published: 2020-05-08
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences
Anthropogenic climatic change will be a major factor shaping natural populations over the foreseeable future. The scope of this issue has spawned the integrative field of global change biology, which is chiefly concerned with identifying vulnerabilities of natural systems to climate change and integrating these into models of biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, there remains considerable latitude for [...]
Epicuticular compounds of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae): identification and sexual selection across two years in the wild
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Life Sciences
The epicuticular compounds (ECs) of insects serve both to waterproof the cuticle and, in many taxa, as pheromones that are important for various social interactions including mate choice within populations. However, ECs have not been individually identified in many species and most studies of their role in mate choice have been performed in a laboratory setting. Here we newly identify and [...]
Poor nutritional condition promotes high-risk behaviours: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Published: 2020-03-18
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences
Animal behaviour can lead to varying levels of risk, and an individual’s physical condition can alter the potential costs and benefits of undertaking risky behaviours. How risk-taking behaviour depends on condition is subject to contrasting hypotheses. The asset protection principle proposes that individuals in better condition should be more risk averse, as they have higher future reproductive [...]
Pre-maturation social experience affects female reproductive strategies and offspring fitness in a highly polyandrous insect
Published: 2020-03-17
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The pre-maturation social environment experienced by females may affect their post-maturation reproductive strategies, including mating preferences and investment in offspring. Whether the pre-maturation social environment also affects other aspects of females’ reproductive strategies, such as the degree of polyandry and post-copulatory decisions, is still an open question. To address this [...]
Development time mediates the effect of larval diet on ageing and mating success of male antler flies in the wild
Published: 2020-03-16
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Entomology, Evolution, Life Sciences, Population Biology
High-quality developmental environments often improve individual performance into adulthood, but allocating toward early-life traits, such as growth, development rate, and reproduction, may lead to trade-offs with late life performance. It is therefore uncertain how a rich developmental environment will affect the ageing process (senescence), particularly in wild insects. To investigate the [...]
Infected or informed? Social structure and the simultaneous transmission of information and infectious disease
Published: 2020-03-06
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Immunology and Infectious Disease, Life Sciences
Social interactions present opportunities for both information and infection to spread through populations. Social learning is often proposed as a key benefit of sociality, while disease epidemics are proposed as a major cost. Multiple empirical and theoretical studies have demonstrated the importance of social structure for either information or infectious disease, but rarely in combination. We [...]
Intergroup food transfers in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia)
Published: 2020-03-01
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Zoology
Transfers of food between adults are uncommon in primates. Although golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia), are unique among primates in the extent of food transfers, reports of food transfers between adults have so far been restricted to captive or reintroduced individuals. Here, I report the first six recorded events of adult-adult food transfers between individuals belonging to [...]