Scared fitless: Context-dependent response of fear to loss of predators over evolutionary time in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

Elliott, Kyle H.; Norris, D. Ryan; Betini, Gustavo S.; Dworkin, Ian

doi:10.1139/facets-2016-0075

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…time in centre of the open field, time in the light chamber) all align with parental differences. This finding supports the proposal that bolder mice are more fit on GI because they spend less time and energy on costly predator avoidance behaviour in an environment without predators [ 7 ]. Additionally, increased boldness may enhance novel predation of seabird chicks, an important source of food during the winter [ 31 , 67 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Organisms on islands behave differently from their mainland counterparts [1][2][3]. Island environments present novel resources, predation pressures and competition [4,5], leading to the evolution of new foraging strategies and activity patterns in island colonizers [6,7]. Investigating the genetic basis of behavioural evolution in island populations has potential to reveal mechanisms by which organisms respond to environmental change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetics of behavioural evolution in giant mice from Gough Island

2023

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The evolution of behaviour on islands is a pervasive phenomenon that contributed to Darwin's theory of natural selection. Island populations frequently show increased boldness and exploration compared with their mainland counterparts. Despite the generality of this pattern, the genetic basis of island-associated behaviours remains a mystery. To address this gap in knowledge, we genetically dissected behaviour in 613 F2s generated by crossing inbred mouse strains from Gough Island (where they live without predators or human commensals) and a mainland conspecific. We used open field and light/dark box tests to measure seven behaviours related to boldness and exploration in juveniles and adults. Across all assays, we identified a total of 41 quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing boldness and exploration. QTL have moderate effects and are often unique to specific behaviours or ages. Function-valued trait mapping revealed changes in estimated effects of QTL during assays, providing a rare dynamic window into the genetics of behaviour often missed by standard approaches. The genomic locations of QTL are distinct from those found in laboratory strains of mice, indicating different genetic paths to the evolution of similar behaviours. We combine our mapping results with extensive phenotypic and genetic information available for laboratory mice to nominate candidate genes for the evolution of behaviour on islands.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetics of behavioural evolution in giant mice from Gough Island

2023

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“…Several studies find reduced reproduction in species due to fear of predator [3,27,31]. Fear effects on any population can measure the influence of long-term population dynamics and ecosystem function [13]. Not only fear changes the ecosystem function but also influences epidemic functions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Backward bifurcation, oscillations and chaos in an eco-epidemiological model with fear effect

Sha

Samanta

Martcheva

et al. 2019

Journal of Biological Dynamics

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This paper considers an eco-epidemiological model with disease in the prey population. The disease in the prey divides the total prey population into two subclasses, susceptible prey and infected prey. The model also incorporates fear of predator that reduces the growth rate of the prey population. Furthermore, fear of predator lowers the activity of the prey population, which reduces the disease transmission. The model is well-posed with bounded solutions. It has an extinction equilibrium, susceptible prey equilibrium, susceptible prey-predator equilibrium, and coexistence equilibria. Conditions for local stability of equilibria are established. The model exhibits fear-induced backward bifurcation and bistability. Extensive numerical simulations show the presence of oscillations and occurrence of chaos due to fear induced lower disease transmission in the prey population.

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“…For many island colonizers, a loss of predators alleviates the need for behavioral or morphological defenses (Williamson 1981;Blumstein and Daniel 2005;Dmitriew 2011). If resources are difficult to acquire and predatory risk is absent, the optimal foraging-risk ratio is highly skewed, favoring exploration and boldness (Brown and Kotler 2004;Creel and Christianson 2008;Elliott et al 2017). Island populations, therefore, provide opportunities to test hypotheses about the evolution of behavior in novel environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of boldness and exploratory behavior in giant mice from Gough Island

Stratton

Nolte

Payseur

2021

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Island populations are hallmarks of extreme phenotypic evolution. Radical changes in resource availability and predation risk accompanying island colonization drive changes in behavior, which Darwin likened to tameness in domesticated animals. Although many examples of animal boldness are found on islands, the heritability of observed behaviors, a requirement for evolution, remains largely unknown. To fill this gap, we profiled anxiety and exploration in island and mainland inbred strains of house mice raised in a common laboratory environment. The island strain was descended from mice on Gough Island, the largest wild house mice on record. Experiments utilizing open environments across two ages showed that Gough Island mice are bolder and more exploratory, even when a shelter is provided. Concurrently, Gough Island mice retain an avoidance response to predator urine. F1 offspring from crosses between these two strains behave more similarly to the mainland strain for most traits, suggesting recessive mutations contributed to behavioral evolution on the island. Our results provide a rare example of novel, inherited behaviors in an island population and demonstrate that behavioral evolution can be specific to different forms of perceived danger. Our discoveries pave the way for a genetic understanding of how island populations evolve unusual behaviors. Significance Organisms on islands are known to behave differently from mainland organisms. An absence of predators and a different set of natural resources are expected to make island organisms less anxious and more exploratory. We raised two groups of house mice, one from Gough Island in the South Atlantic and one from the mainland Eastern USA, in the same laboratory environment to see if behavioral differences between the two groups are heritable. Mice from both groups were placed in novel enclosures that are known to cause anxiety in rodents. We found that mice from the island are bolder and more exploratory in these enclosures but avoid predator odors in the same way as mainland mice. Our results show that boldness and exploration can evolve after island colonization.

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Scared fitless: Context-dependent response of fear to loss of predators over evolutionary time in Drosophila melanogaster

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

Genetics of behavioural evolution in giant mice from Gough Island

Genetics of behavioural evolution in giant mice from Gough Island

Backward bifurcation, oscillations and chaos in an eco-epidemiological model with fear effect

Evolution of boldness and exploratory behavior in giant mice from Gough Island

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