Differential aggressiveness between fire salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata) larvae covaries with their genetic similarity

Responding differentially to kin and non-kin is known to be adaptive in many species. One example is the inclusive fitness benefits of reducing aggression toward closer relatives. Little is known, however, about the ability of animals to assess differential degrees of genetic relatedness and to resp...

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Published inBehavioral ecology and sociobiology Vol. 63; no. 8; pp. 1149 - 1155
Main Authors Markman, Shai, Hill, Naomi, Todrank, Josephine, Heth, Giora, Blaustein, Leon
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer-Verlag 01.06.2009
Springer-Verlag
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Aggressive behavior
Aggressiveness
Animal behavior
Animal Ecology
Behavioral genetics
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Caudata
Conspecifics
Female animals
Genetic relationships
Genetics
Insect larvae
Larvae
Life Sciences
Odors
Original Paper
Population genetics
Reptiles & amphibians
Salamanders
Salamandra
Siblings
Studies
Zoology
Fire salamander
Aggressive behavior
Genetic relatedness assessment
Kin recognition
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Summary:Responding differentially to kin and non-kin is known to be adaptive in many species. One example is the inclusive fitness benefits of reducing aggression toward closer relatives. Little is known, however, about the ability of animals to assess differential degrees of genetic relatedness and to respond accordingly with differential levels of aggression. In the present study, we tested whether aggressiveness between body mass-matched pairs of fire salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata) larvae covaried with the genetic similarity between them. We quantified aggressiveness at three levels of genetic similarity by selecting pairs within and across pools from recently genotyped populations. We also assessed aggression between pairs of siblings. Aggression and associated injuries decreased as genetic similarity increased across the groups. These findings suggest that cannibalistic salamanders can assess their degree of genetic relatedness to conspecifics and vary their behavioral responses depending on the degree of similarity between them along a genetic relatedness continuum.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0765-y
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ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-009-0765-y