Pub Date : 2022-07-13DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2094469
Roni Ostreiher, R. Mundry, A. Heifetz
In many species, dispersal from the natal group is crucial for reproduction. However, venturing into a new territory and integrating into a novel social environment is associated with risks and costs. In cooperatively breeding species, moreover, an individual’s prospects of future reproduction upon dispersal or upon remaining in the natal group might crucially depend on other group members’ concurrent decisions to disperse or to stay. We developed a methodology for evaluating how the actual decision of a potential disperser to join or not to join a dispersing individual or coalition affects its fitness in comparison with the fitness consequences it would have had if it had taken the reverse decision – to disperse instead of staying, or to stay instead of dispersing. We then examined 64 dispersal events by unisex coalitions of Arabian babblers who could not breed in their group of origin, and aimed to acquire breeding opportunities by joining another group. For each such dispersal event, we compared the fitness consequences for the members of the dispersing coalition as well as for their same-sex siblings who stayed, to the counterfactual consequences of taking the reverse decision for each of them in turn. Fitness consequences were assessed based on breeding success in the ensuing year as the leading criterion, and on social rank as a secondary criterion. We found that 69% of the dispersers and 38% of the individuals who stayed made fitness-enhancing decisions relative to the alternative they faced, and for an additional 10% of dispersers and 21% of those who stayed, their choice yielded fitness consequences on par with those of the alternative choice. These findings suggest that despite the risky and uncertain circumstances in which dispersal decisions are taken, most individuals make informed, fitness-enhancing dispersal choices, taking into account the concurrent choices of their groupmates.
{"title":"Actual versus counterfactual fitness consequences of dispersal decisions in a cooperative breeder","authors":"Roni Ostreiher, R. Mundry, A. Heifetz","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2094469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2094469","url":null,"abstract":"In many species, dispersal from the natal group is crucial for reproduction. However, venturing into a new territory and integrating into a novel social environment is associated with risks and costs. In cooperatively breeding species, moreover, an individual’s prospects of future reproduction upon dispersal or upon remaining in the natal group might crucially depend on other group members’ concurrent decisions to disperse or to stay. We developed a methodology for evaluating how the actual decision of a potential disperser to join or not to join a dispersing individual or coalition affects its fitness in comparison with the fitness consequences it would have had if it had taken the reverse decision – to disperse instead of staying, or to stay instead of dispersing. We then examined 64 dispersal events by unisex coalitions of Arabian babblers who could not breed in their group of origin, and aimed to acquire breeding opportunities by joining another group. For each such dispersal event, we compared the fitness consequences for the members of the dispersing coalition as well as for their same-sex siblings who stayed, to the counterfactual consequences of taking the reverse decision for each of them in turn. Fitness consequences were assessed based on breeding success in the ensuing year as the leading criterion, and on social rank as a secondary criterion. We found that 69% of the dispersers and 38% of the individuals who stayed made fitness-enhancing decisions relative to the alternative they faced, and for an additional 10% of dispersers and 21% of those who stayed, their choice yielded fitness consequences on par with those of the alternative choice. These findings suggest that despite the risky and uncertain circumstances in which dispersal decisions are taken, most individuals make informed, fitness-enhancing dispersal choices, taking into account the concurrent choices of their groupmates.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72977782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-12DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2098382
Alberto Zonato, A. Gagliardo, Francesca Bandoli, E. Palagi
Compared to other primate taxa, hand preference in strepsirrhines has been poorly investigated and the available studies have often produced conflicting results. Thanks to their remarkable plasticity in foraging and postural habits, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) represent a key model species to examine manual lateralisation. We video-recorded 23 individuals hosted at four Italian zoological gardens during three food-related trials requiring different kinds of manual actions. We found a remarkable hand preference at individual level for grasping static food presented in a bowl, both when only one kind of food was offered (“food limited-choice” task) and when a mix of less and more palatable food items were available (“food large-choice” task). Conversely, most individuals did not show any hand preference for catching highly palatable food in motion (“catching” task). Moreover, the subjects not showing any hand preference engaged more frequently in bimanual actions (concurrent and symmetric use of both hands in catching food) than the subjects displaying a manual asymmetry. No detrimental effect on the task performance was recorded, indicating a high level of hand selection plasticity in Lemur catta. In conclusion, our findings show that ring-tailed lemurs can take advantage from a flexible manual strategy and highlight how ecological factors must be carefully evaluated when assessing hand preference in extant strepsirrhines.
{"title":"Reaching versus catching: flexible hand preference in ring-tailed lemurs","authors":"Alberto Zonato, A. Gagliardo, Francesca Bandoli, E. Palagi","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2098382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2098382","url":null,"abstract":"Compared to other primate taxa, hand preference in strepsirrhines has been poorly investigated and the available studies have often produced conflicting results. Thanks to their remarkable plasticity in foraging and postural habits, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) represent a key model species to examine manual lateralisation. We video-recorded 23 individuals hosted at four Italian zoological gardens during three food-related trials requiring different kinds of manual actions. We found a remarkable hand preference at individual level for grasping static food presented in a bowl, both when only one kind of food was offered (“food limited-choice” task) and when a mix of less and more palatable food items were available (“food large-choice” task). Conversely, most individuals did not show any hand preference for catching highly palatable food in motion (“catching” task). Moreover, the subjects not showing any hand preference engaged more frequently in bimanual actions (concurrent and symmetric use of both hands in catching food) than the subjects displaying a manual asymmetry. No detrimental effect on the task performance was recorded, indicating a high level of hand selection plasticity in Lemur catta. In conclusion, our findings show that ring-tailed lemurs can take advantage from a flexible manual strategy and highlight how ecological factors must be carefully evaluated when assessing hand preference in extant strepsirrhines.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88633268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-11DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2094470
Giacomo Rosa, Mattia Bosio, S. Salvidio, Andrea Costa
Amphibians are small ectothermic vertebrates with high permeable skins that are highly constrained by environmental conditions, such as humidity and temperature. Therefore, terrestrial salamanders regulate their surface activity, including foraging, to minimize evaporative water loss. The influence of local micro-climatic factors on the foraging success of European forest dwelling salamanders has rarely been analysed in detail. We examined the role of local climatic conditions on the foraging success, measured by the total number of prey items, of two syntopic forest-dwelling salamanders: Strinati’s cave salamander, Speleomantes strinatii (family Plethodontidae), and Northern spectacled salamander, Salamandrina perspicillata (family Salamandridae). We evaluated the effects of rainfall, temperature and body size on the foraging success of these two species, in eight sampling sites in the Northern Apennines of Italy, for a total of 11 salamander populations. Our findings show that different climatic variables affected the two species differently. Salamandrina perspicillata foraged more intensively during periods of prolonged rainfall with higher temperatures. On the contrary, S. strinatii foraging success was negatively influenced by rising temperature, while rainfall seemed to have no significant effect. Interestingly, body size increased success in S. perspicillata but not in S. strinatii. Overall, our findings show that, when foraging in the same environment, these two species are conditioned by different climatic factors possibly due to their differences in overall body size and their ability to resist dehydration.
{"title":"Foraging success is differently affected by local climate in two syntopic forest-dwelling salamanders","authors":"Giacomo Rosa, Mattia Bosio, S. Salvidio, Andrea Costa","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2094470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2094470","url":null,"abstract":"Amphibians are small ectothermic vertebrates with high permeable skins that are highly constrained by environmental conditions, such as humidity and temperature. Therefore, terrestrial salamanders regulate their surface activity, including foraging, to minimize evaporative water loss. The influence of local micro-climatic factors on the foraging success of European forest dwelling salamanders has rarely been analysed in detail. We examined the role of local climatic conditions on the foraging success, measured by the total number of prey items, of two syntopic forest-dwelling salamanders: Strinati’s cave salamander, Speleomantes strinatii (family Plethodontidae), and Northern spectacled salamander, Salamandrina perspicillata (family Salamandridae). We evaluated the effects of rainfall, temperature and body size on the foraging success of these two species, in eight sampling sites in the Northern Apennines of Italy, for a total of 11 salamander populations. Our findings show that different climatic variables affected the two species differently. Salamandrina perspicillata foraged more intensively during periods of prolonged rainfall with higher temperatures. On the contrary, S. strinatii foraging success was negatively influenced by rising temperature, while rainfall seemed to have no significant effect. Interestingly, body size increased success in S. perspicillata but not in S. strinatii. Overall, our findings show that, when foraging in the same environment, these two species are conditioned by different climatic factors possibly due to their differences in overall body size and their ability to resist dehydration.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89899652","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-05DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2094471
Anastasios Bounas, G. Catsadorakis, T. Naziridis, T. Bino, Dionyssia Hatzilacou, Myrsini Malakou, Ortaç Onmuş, Mehmet Sıkı, Pavel Simeonov, A. Crivelli
Wintering site selection is a major decision in a bird’s annual life cycle since conditions experienced by individuals within a wintering site can influence individual fitness and ultimately population dynamics. If individuals show strong fidelity to specific sites, annual environmental effects can be reinforced. In this study we analyse winter resightings of ringed Dalmatian pelicans, collected during a 35-year-long ringing survey, to identify winter movement patterns of Dalmatian pelicans, assess the level of site fidelity both within and among consecutive wintering events and examine environmental factors that may contribute to an individual’s decision to move towards a specific site during the winter period. Our results showed that the decision of Dalmatian pelicans to move towards a specific site was mainly driven by the site’s size and temperature conditions. Larger wetlands can provide birds with higher resource abundance and offer more opportunities to exploit optimal roosting and feeding habitats, whereas wetlands that do not freeze during the winter are a definite requirement. Wintering movements were more likely to occur at short distances from a bird’s natal colony, whereas it was uncommon for birds born in wetlands located in the Adriatic and Ionian coast to move eastwards during the winter, suggesting a level of spatial substructure. Furthermore, we showed that the species exhibits very strong within-year and among-year wintering site fidelity, with birds moving less during the winter, whereas juvenile birds travel greater distances than the rest of the age classes examined. Our conclusions could guide an effective approach to site-based conservation management at key wintering sites.
{"title":"Site fidelity and determinants of wintering decisions in the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus)","authors":"Anastasios Bounas, G. Catsadorakis, T. Naziridis, T. Bino, Dionyssia Hatzilacou, Myrsini Malakou, Ortaç Onmuş, Mehmet Sıkı, Pavel Simeonov, A. Crivelli","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2094471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2094471","url":null,"abstract":"Wintering site selection is a major decision in a bird’s annual life cycle since conditions experienced by individuals within a wintering site can influence individual fitness and ultimately population dynamics. If individuals show strong fidelity to specific sites, annual environmental effects can be reinforced. In this study we analyse winter resightings of ringed Dalmatian pelicans, collected during a 35-year-long ringing survey, to identify winter movement patterns of Dalmatian pelicans, assess the level of site fidelity both within and among consecutive wintering events and examine environmental factors that may contribute to an individual’s decision to move towards a specific site during the winter period. Our results showed that the decision of Dalmatian pelicans to move towards a specific site was mainly driven by the site’s size and temperature conditions. Larger wetlands can provide birds with higher resource abundance and offer more opportunities to exploit optimal roosting and feeding habitats, whereas wetlands that do not freeze during the winter are a definite requirement. Wintering movements were more likely to occur at short distances from a bird’s natal colony, whereas it was uncommon for birds born in wetlands located in the Adriatic and Ionian coast to move eastwards during the winter, suggesting a level of spatial substructure. Furthermore, we showed that the species exhibits very strong within-year and among-year wintering site fidelity, with birds moving less during the winter, whereas juvenile birds travel greater distances than the rest of the age classes examined. Our conclusions could guide an effective approach to site-based conservation management at key wintering sites.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84954045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-28DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2082537
Mahima Hemnani, I. S. C. Guimarães, I. L. Kaefer, Tiago H. S. Pires
Early detection of predators is fundamental for the survival of the prey. Predator detection can occur by perception of the chemical substances released by predators or injured conspecifics, granting prey the opportunity to avoid the attack. However, overreacting to cues can generate false alarm reactions that result in fruitless energetic costs. Given that chemical cues in natural habitats rarely occur singly, individuals can benefit from obtaining information from multiple sources, such as the combined chemical cues from predators and conspecifics. We experimentally tested the movement reaction of cane toad (Rhinella marina) tadpoles when in contact with isolated chemical cues from a conspecific, a predator (dragonfly larvae), and the combination of these two substances. We quantified duration of swimming activity before and after the exposure to the chemical cues and compared it to a control group. A significant reduction in swimming activity was only observed when the tadpoles were exposed to the combination of both cue types. Our results suggest that the tadpoles can recognise the chemical cues from conspecifics and predators, but a behavioural response is only elicited when both stimuli are detected simultaneously. We suggest that behavioural change in response to predation threat in R. marina is a compromise between early detection of predators and avoidance of unnecessary energetic expenditures.
{"title":"Alarm reaction depends on multiple chemical cues in tadpoles of the cane toad (Rhinella marina)","authors":"Mahima Hemnani, I. S. C. Guimarães, I. L. Kaefer, Tiago H. S. Pires","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2082537","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2082537","url":null,"abstract":"Early detection of predators is fundamental for the survival of the prey. Predator detection can occur by perception of the chemical substances released by predators or injured conspecifics, granting prey the opportunity to avoid the attack. However, overreacting to cues can generate false alarm reactions that result in fruitless energetic costs. Given that chemical cues in natural habitats rarely occur singly, individuals can benefit from obtaining information from multiple sources, such as the combined chemical cues from predators and conspecifics. We experimentally tested the movement reaction of cane toad (Rhinella marina) tadpoles when in contact with isolated chemical cues from a conspecific, a predator (dragonfly larvae), and the combination of these two substances. We quantified duration of swimming activity before and after the exposure to the chemical cues and compared it to a control group. A significant reduction in swimming activity was only observed when the tadpoles were exposed to the combination of both cue types. Our results suggest that the tadpoles can recognise the chemical cues from conspecifics and predators, but a behavioural response is only elicited when both stimuli are detected simultaneously. We suggest that behavioural change in response to predation threat in R. marina is a compromise between early detection of predators and avoidance of unnecessary energetic expenditures.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75435066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-10DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2069159
Fumiaki Y. Nomano, Shin Matsui, Mariko Senda, Y. Tsuchiya, M. Takagi
The encounter with relatives at the time of mating can be reduced if one or both sexes breed away from the natal site, and it is often assumed that this occurs to a lesser extent on islands where only short dispersal is possible. However, endemic insular populations may have evolved fine-tuned dispersal patterns enabling effective avoidance of inbreeding even in a small habitat, and the influence of spatial constraint should be more apparent for non-endemic than endemic populations. Recently established island populations of originally migratory birds can provide insights into the direct effect of habitat area on inbreeding risk. We studied spatial distribution of kin and inbreeding in a population of the bull-headed shrike, Lanius bucephalus, that became established on small oceanic islands separated from the mainland by > 360 km, Minami-daito and Kita-daito Islands, early in the 1970s. Sex-specific spatial genetic structure that could reduce inbreeding risk was absent within the focal Minami-daito Island. This result remained unchanged after the neighbouring Kita-daito Island was incorporated into the analysis. Average relatedness of breeding pairs was not different from that expected under random mating, and FIS was no greater than zero. The estimates of extra-pair paternity frequency were not high (4.5–16% of offspring, depending on the estimation method) compared to the mainland. Inbreeding coefficient of offspring was variable among nests, indicating some occurrence of inbreeding. We found no clear evidence of recent population bottleneck, suggesting that the purging of deleterious recessive alleles did not occur upon colonisation. These results suggest the absence of obvious inbreeding avoidance despite the potentially negative effects of inbreeding. Future studies should quantify inbreeding depression and also formally rule out the possibility that inbreeding is not avoided as an adaptive strategy as has been suggested for endemic island species. HIGHLIGHTS • Inbreeding risk is assumed to be high in small isolated habitats due to limited dispersal distance. • We studied spatial kin clustering and inbreeding in a non-endemic island bird population. • Evidence suggests that inbreeding is not avoided via differential dispersal distance between sexes.
{"title":"Random mating and the lack of sex-biased kin clustering in an island population of the bull-headed shrike, Lanius bucephalus","authors":"Fumiaki Y. Nomano, Shin Matsui, Mariko Senda, Y. Tsuchiya, M. Takagi","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2069159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2069159","url":null,"abstract":"The encounter with relatives at the time of mating can be reduced if one or both sexes breed away from the natal site, and it is often assumed that this occurs to a lesser extent on islands where only short dispersal is possible. However, endemic insular populations may have evolved fine-tuned dispersal patterns enabling effective avoidance of inbreeding even in a small habitat, and the influence of spatial constraint should be more apparent for non-endemic than endemic populations. Recently established island populations of originally migratory birds can provide insights into the direct effect of habitat area on inbreeding risk. We studied spatial distribution of kin and inbreeding in a population of the bull-headed shrike, Lanius bucephalus, that became established on small oceanic islands separated from the mainland by > 360 km, Minami-daito and Kita-daito Islands, early in the 1970s. Sex-specific spatial genetic structure that could reduce inbreeding risk was absent within the focal Minami-daito Island. This result remained unchanged after the neighbouring Kita-daito Island was incorporated into the analysis. Average relatedness of breeding pairs was not different from that expected under random mating, and FIS was no greater than zero. The estimates of extra-pair paternity frequency were not high (4.5–16% of offspring, depending on the estimation method) compared to the mainland. Inbreeding coefficient of offspring was variable among nests, indicating some occurrence of inbreeding. We found no clear evidence of recent population bottleneck, suggesting that the purging of deleterious recessive alleles did not occur upon colonisation. These results suggest the absence of obvious inbreeding avoidance despite the potentially negative effects of inbreeding. Future studies should quantify inbreeding depression and also formally rule out the possibility that inbreeding is not avoided as an adaptive strategy as has been suggested for endemic island species. HIGHLIGHTS • Inbreeding risk is assumed to be high in small isolated habitats due to limited dispersal distance. • We studied spatial kin clustering and inbreeding in a non-endemic island bird population. • Evidence suggests that inbreeding is not avoided via differential dispersal distance between sexes.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81620525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2059784
José R. de Oliveira-Santos, Regina C. Bressan Queiroz de Figueiredo, G. J. Barbosa de Moura
Anurans present different defence mechanisms against predator attacks. There are more than 30 defence strategies that these animals can display in the different environments where they can be preyed upon. We analysed the defence repertoire of the species Leptodactylus vastus Lutz 1930, including the male distress call and its intra and interindividual coefficients of variation. We carried out this study in a fragment of Semideciduous Atlantic Forest at the Camocim Conservation Unit in the metropolitan region of Recife, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. The defensive displays of 30 males to different stimuli simulating a predator were analysed. We observed five types of strategies which were used by these animals separately or concomitantly: puffing up the body (100%), push movement (83.3%), distress call (33.3%), hiding (23.3%), cloacal discharge (16.6%) and spine aggression (6.6%). The analysis of intra and interindividual coefficient of variation showed that there was no acoustic variation in the distress call of this species. Understanding the defensive mechanisms of a species is important to identify the antipredatory strategies used by animals, especially in face of emerging threats, and to help to produce proposals for the conservation of neotropical species. Highlights Studies on the defensive behaviour of anurans have been presented information that can help in the construction of the natural history of the species in this group. The results show that males of Leptodactylus vastus exhibited five types of defensive behaviours, of which 4 were of visual origin: puffing up the body, push, hiding, cloacal discharge, and spinal aggression; and one type of acoustic behaviour: distress call. The behaviours were observed through three types of external stimuli, in which during the data analysis it was evident that there is no male preference for a specific type of stimulus. Through the interindividual and interindividual coefficient of variation that there are no significant variations in the distress call, being an unprecedented result for works that involve the distress call.
{"title":"The defense repertoire of males of Leptodactylus vastus Lutz 1930 in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil","authors":"José R. de Oliveira-Santos, Regina C. Bressan Queiroz de Figueiredo, G. J. Barbosa de Moura","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2059784","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2059784","url":null,"abstract":"Anurans present different defence mechanisms against predator attacks. There are more than 30 defence strategies that these animals can display in the different environments where they can be preyed upon. We analysed the defence repertoire of the species Leptodactylus vastus Lutz 1930, including the male distress call and its intra and interindividual coefficients of variation. We carried out this study in a fragment of Semideciduous Atlantic Forest at the Camocim Conservation Unit in the metropolitan region of Recife, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. The defensive displays of 30 males to different stimuli simulating a predator were analysed. We observed five types of strategies which were used by these animals separately or concomitantly: puffing up the body (100%), push movement (83.3%), distress call (33.3%), hiding (23.3%), cloacal discharge (16.6%) and spine aggression (6.6%). The analysis of intra and interindividual coefficient of variation showed that there was no acoustic variation in the distress call of this species. Understanding the defensive mechanisms of a species is important to identify the antipredatory strategies used by animals, especially in face of emerging threats, and to help to produce proposals for the conservation of neotropical species. Highlights Studies on the defensive behaviour of anurans have been presented information that can help in the construction of the natural history of the species in this group. The results show that males of Leptodactylus vastus exhibited five types of defensive behaviours, of which 4 were of visual origin: puffing up the body, push, hiding, cloacal discharge, and spinal aggression; and one type of acoustic behaviour: distress call. The behaviours were observed through three types of external stimuli, in which during the data analysis it was evident that there is no male preference for a specific type of stimulus. Through the interindividual and interindividual coefficient of variation that there are no significant variations in the distress call, being an unprecedented result for works that involve the distress call.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73457257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-27DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2059785
M. R. Fuentes-Morales, A. Fernández-Guasti, Margarita Juárez, R. A. Lucio
Axioms of sperm competition theory (risk and intensity model) predict that males increase sperm expenditure when ongoing competitive copulating encounters with other males. Particularly, the intensity model that considers a real male confrontation has not been experimentally tested in laboratory rats. Furthermore, no study has explored the active role of the female (that occurs in natural conditions) in regulating the timing of copulation on the effects of competition on sexual behaviour and seminal parameters. Thus, the goal of this study was to analyse the copulatory behaviour and seminal parameters under male–male competition and female pacing. In order to control for possible variations due to the sexual behaviour phenotype, all experiments were done in male rats with short ejaculation latencies (rapid ejaculators). The results show that competition decreased by half the ejaculation latency and increased sperm quantity, but substantially decreased sperm motility. On the contrary, when competition is tested under conditions where the female regulates the timing of copulation (paced mating), the ejaculation latency increased to double, the sperm count did not change, and the sperm motility significantly decreased. The variations in the parameters of the ejaculate depend on the context, i.e., the confrontation with a competitor, and the active participation of the female during copulation. Probably, when there is more than one male during mating, the female – through cryptic choice – promotes mechanisms that interfere temporally with sperm motility. HIGHLIGHTS Copulatory competition shortens the ejaculation latency of rapid ejaculators. Copulatory competition plus female pacing lengthens the ejaculation latency of rapid ejaculators. Sperm motility drastically decreases due to competition regardless of female pacing. Sperm count increases during competition but not under competition plus female pacing. Seminal plug’s size and weight do not change despite competition and female pacing.
{"title":"Copulatory behaviour and seminal parameters of rapid ejaculator rats during competition and female pacing","authors":"M. R. Fuentes-Morales, A. Fernández-Guasti, Margarita Juárez, R. A. Lucio","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2059785","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2059785","url":null,"abstract":"Axioms of sperm competition theory (risk and intensity model) predict that males increase sperm expenditure when ongoing competitive copulating encounters with other males. Particularly, the intensity model that considers a real male confrontation has not been experimentally tested in laboratory rats. Furthermore, no study has explored the active role of the female (that occurs in natural conditions) in regulating the timing of copulation on the effects of competition on sexual behaviour and seminal parameters. Thus, the goal of this study was to analyse the copulatory behaviour and seminal parameters under male–male competition and female pacing. In order to control for possible variations due to the sexual behaviour phenotype, all experiments were done in male rats with short ejaculation latencies (rapid ejaculators). The results show that competition decreased by half the ejaculation latency and increased sperm quantity, but substantially decreased sperm motility. On the contrary, when competition is tested under conditions where the female regulates the timing of copulation (paced mating), the ejaculation latency increased to double, the sperm count did not change, and the sperm motility significantly decreased. The variations in the parameters of the ejaculate depend on the context, i.e., the confrontation with a competitor, and the active participation of the female during copulation. Probably, when there is more than one male during mating, the female – through cryptic choice – promotes mechanisms that interfere temporally with sperm motility. HIGHLIGHTS Copulatory competition shortens the ejaculation latency of rapid ejaculators. Copulatory competition plus female pacing lengthens the ejaculation latency of rapid ejaculators. Sperm motility drastically decreases due to competition regardless of female pacing. Sperm count increases during competition but not under competition plus female pacing. Seminal plug’s size and weight do not change despite competition and female pacing.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85438588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-27DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2062617
Larissa H. Santos, C. Santos, Maria L. da Silva
New World vultures have been considerably studied regarding their sense of smell. Cathartes species present a remarkable development of their olfactory apparatus, and experiments conducted with the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) demonstrated that they can locate carrion exclusively by smell at considerable distances. Black vultures (Coragyps atratus), because of their less developed olfactory apparatus, have been compared with the turkey vulture as a phylogenetically related species lacking the sense of smell. However, little evidence from behavioural studies supports the lack of olfaction of black vultures. We conducted a field experiment where we presented urban black vultures a binary choice of decaying fish and sand (serving as control) inside plastic bags. Birds chose the fish bait in 81% of the times they approached the plastic bags. The probability of reaction decreased significantly with the distance between the birds and the fish bait, being virtually null at 40–50 m away. Furthermore, birds clearly reacted more when the fish presented higher decaying time (7 compared to 2 days). These results show that olfaction is not only used by black vultures but is probably the most relevant sense when they search for food hidden in plastic bags and in piles of unsorted waste, which is the most common foraging environment for this species in urban areas where they are very abundant.
{"title":"The limits of olfactory perception in black vultures: a field experiment","authors":"Larissa H. Santos, C. Santos, Maria L. da Silva","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2062617","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2062617","url":null,"abstract":"New World vultures have been considerably studied regarding their sense of smell. Cathartes species present a remarkable development of their olfactory apparatus, and experiments conducted with the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) demonstrated that they can locate carrion exclusively by smell at considerable distances. Black vultures (Coragyps atratus), because of their less developed olfactory apparatus, have been compared with the turkey vulture as a phylogenetically related species lacking the sense of smell. However, little evidence from behavioural studies supports the lack of olfaction of black vultures. We conducted a field experiment where we presented urban black vultures a binary choice of decaying fish and sand (serving as control) inside plastic bags. Birds chose the fish bait in 81% of the times they approached the plastic bags. The probability of reaction decreased significantly with the distance between the birds and the fish bait, being virtually null at 40–50 m away. Furthermore, birds clearly reacted more when the fish presented higher decaying time (7 compared to 2 days). These results show that olfaction is not only used by black vultures but is probably the most relevant sense when they search for food hidden in plastic bags and in piles of unsorted waste, which is the most common foraging environment for this species in urban areas where they are very abundant.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84643294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-26DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2022.2059787
S. Giuntini, Luca Pedruzzi
The concept of mating systems refers to all the strategies through which animals interact in the context of breeding. Animal social interactions, and consequently their mating strategies, are strongly influenced by landscape configuration, including anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. Despite this holding the potential to impact both genetic viability and animal behaviour, an updated and comprehensive review on its effects on mating systems is lacking, as an exhaustive understanding of the underlying processes. Thus, we reviewed the literature concerning the influence of habitat fragmentation on mating systems of tetrapods and on processes associated with breeding. We underlined the unfortunate biases present in literature (e.g., most studies on birds and mammals, none on amphibians) and showed the changes possibly led by living in discontinuous habitats for each class of terrestrial vertebrates (i.e., mammals, birds, and reptiles). In fragmented patches of habitats, resource distribution gets altered; consequently, space occupancy may change and affect how animals interact, leading to variable potential for monogamous/polygamous mating systems compared to continuous populations. We discussed how dispersal and indirectly the population sex ratio can be altered in such populations, and further considered changes in social behaviour, specifically in interactions between kin individuals with increasing relatedness in smaller and isolated patches. More typical of bird populations are changes in mating-related phenomena such as pairing success, extra-pair paternity (EPP) rate, and nest parasitism, together with shifts from mating strategies (e.g., lekking behaviour). Although no univocal response to habitat parcelling was found, several complex and population-specific trends emerge in the literature. We suggest a multidisciplinary approach to implement research in this direction, especially to evaluate the adaptive nature of such responses. Ultimately, we underline the urgent need of taking into consideration behavioural responses in wildlife management interventions, particularly when dealing with species that may lack plasticity to adapt to landscape degradation.
{"title":"Sex and the patch: the influence of habitat fragmentation on terrestrial vertebrates’ mating strategies","authors":"S. Giuntini, Luca Pedruzzi","doi":"10.1080/03949370.2022.2059787","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2022.2059787","url":null,"abstract":"The concept of mating systems refers to all the strategies through which animals interact in the context of breeding. Animal social interactions, and consequently their mating strategies, are strongly influenced by landscape configuration, including anthropogenic habitat fragmentation. Despite this holding the potential to impact both genetic viability and animal behaviour, an updated and comprehensive review on its effects on mating systems is lacking, as an exhaustive understanding of the underlying processes. Thus, we reviewed the literature concerning the influence of habitat fragmentation on mating systems of tetrapods and on processes associated with breeding. We underlined the unfortunate biases present in literature (e.g., most studies on birds and mammals, none on amphibians) and showed the changes possibly led by living in discontinuous habitats for each class of terrestrial vertebrates (i.e., mammals, birds, and reptiles). In fragmented patches of habitats, resource distribution gets altered; consequently, space occupancy may change and affect how animals interact, leading to variable potential for monogamous/polygamous mating systems compared to continuous populations. We discussed how dispersal and indirectly the population sex ratio can be altered in such populations, and further considered changes in social behaviour, specifically in interactions between kin individuals with increasing relatedness in smaller and isolated patches. More typical of bird populations are changes in mating-related phenomena such as pairing success, extra-pair paternity (EPP) rate, and nest parasitism, together with shifts from mating strategies (e.g., lekking behaviour). Although no univocal response to habitat parcelling was found, several complex and population-specific trends emerge in the literature. We suggest a multidisciplinary approach to implement research in this direction, especially to evaluate the adaptive nature of such responses. Ultimately, we underline the urgent need of taking into consideration behavioural responses in wildlife management interventions, particularly when dealing with species that may lack plasticity to adapt to landscape degradation.","PeriodicalId":55163,"journal":{"name":"Ethology Ecology & Evolution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90672231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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