Boldness-mediated habitat use tactics and reproductive success in a wild large herbivore
The balance between resource acquisition and risk avoidance should vary according to personality type, with potential knock-on effects for fitness. Although previous studies have suggested a link between boldness and fitness components, little evidence is available on the behavioural mechanisms mediating this relationship in the wild. Because habitat use is the outcome of the trade-off […]
Zoo Research Guidelines: Behavioural Profiling
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Collective personalities in honeybee colonies are linked to colony fitness
Personality differences (i.e. consistent between-individual differences in behaviour) play an important role in the lives of humans and other animals, influencing both their day-to-day actions and their long-term reproductive success. For organisms living in highly structured groups of related individuals, such as colonies of social insects, personalities could also emerge at the group level. However, […]
Pairs of zebra finches with similar ‘personalities’ make better parents
Although behavioural plasticity should be an advantage in a varying world, there is increasing evidence for widespread stable individual differences in the behaviour of animals: that is, [`]personality’. Here we provide evidence suggesting that sexual selection is an important factor in the evolution of personality in species with biparental care. We carried out a cross-fostering […]
Personality predicts social dominance in female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, in a feeding context
Although personality has been defined as a suite of correlated behaviours, most studies of animal personality actually consider correlations between a few traits. We examined the repeatability and correlational structure of five potential personality traits (activity, neophobia, exploratory tendencies, risk-taking behaviour and obstinacy), in female zebra finches. In addition, we assessed to what extent personality […]
Temperament, risk assessment and habituation to novelty in eastern chipmunks, Tamias striatus
An increasing number of studies are focusing on the role of animal temperament in the ecology of wild populations. One important step in these studies is to estimate the repeatability of temperament traits, by replicating measures of an animal’s behavioural or physiological reactions to a novel or stressful situation. When studies are performed in the […]
Behavioural syndromes in Steller’s jays: the role of time frames in the assessment of behavioural traits
Behavioural syndromes describe consistent and correlated individual differences in behavioural traits. Quantifying individual differences often requires researchers to capture and hold animals in captivity while short-term behavioural assays are recorded. We compared behavioural responses of adult, territorial Steller’s jays in short- and long-term field assessments of behavioural traits in two ecological contexts, risk taking and […]
Persistent effect of incubation temperature on stress-induced behavior in the Yucatan banded gecko (Coleonyx elegans)
Although variability in behavioral traits within animal populations is well documented, the mechanisms maintaining that variability are still insufficiently known. In this study, we examined whether differences in thermal environment during egg incubation can permanently organize nonsocial behavior across different contexts and situations in a lizard species. We incubated eggs of the Yucatan banded gecko, […]
Personality affects zebra finch feeding success in a producer-scrounger game
Recent evidence strongly suggests that natural selection can favour the evolution of consistent individual differences in behaviour ([`]personalities’). Indeed, personality shows heritable variation and has been linked to fitness in many species. However, the fitness effects of personality are highly variable within and between species. Furthermore, the nature of the causal influence of personality on […]
Behavioural syndromes at multiple scales in Myrmica ants
Behavioural syndromes (correlations between suites of behavioural traits) have been documented in a wide range of animals and are important for the understanding of evolution and ecology. Previous research has focused primarily on behavioural syndromes composed of individual animals: we investigated behavioural syndromes at the individual, caste and colony levels in Myrmica ants. We first […]