Reduced Aggression Toward Siblings as Evidence of Kin Recognition in Cannibalistic Salamanders

Walls, Susan C.; Roudebush, Roger E.

doi:10.1086/285266

Cited by 53 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, repeated studies on the same species sometimes yield apparently contradictory findings. A. opacum larvae are less aggressive toward siblings than non-siblings when both are similar in size (Walls and Roudebush 1991), yet preferentially cannibalize smaller siblings (Walls and Blaustein 1995). Many factors, including larval stage (this study), larval density (Kishida et al 2015), presence of other species (Pomerory 1981;Pfennig 1990;Michimae and Wakahara 2002), size differences among individuals (Brunkow and Collins 1998), and possibly the risk of disease transmission (Pfennig et al 1991;see below), affect the social dynamics of salamander cannibalism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…However, cannibalism also incurs costs. Cannibals may be injured when struggling with prey, they risk contracting infectious disease by eating conspecifics (Pfennig et al 1998), and they may suffer decreased inclusive fitness if they eat their kin (Walls and Roudebush 1991;Pfennig et al , 1994. Nonetheless, kin cannibalism may evolve in certain circumstances, for example, when the cannibalized individuals have little chance of metamorphosing themselves before their pond dries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By contrast, larvae of the Korean salamander Hynobius leechii prefer to cannibalize their kin (Park et al 2005). Marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum) larvae are less aggressive toward their kin than non-kin (Walls and Roudebush 1991) but prefer to eat their siblings even when non-siblings are available as food (Walls and Blaustein 1995). Although the tendency of amphibians to avoid cannibalizing kin often is presented as an example of the adaptive value of kin discrimination (e.g., Davies et al 2012), the relationship between kinship and cannibalism in salamanders appears complex.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kin discrimination in polyphenic salamander larvae: trade-offs between inclusive fitness and pathogen transmission

Garza

Waldman

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Some larval amphibians can develop into two distinct morphological types: a small-headed Bnormal^morph and a rarer broad-headed morph with specialized adaptations to feed on the normal morph. Cannibalism confers nutritional benefits that accelerate development, essential for survival in transient environments, but incurs potential inclusive fitness costs. Selective cannibalism of non-kin thus should be favored. However, subjects may be more vulnerable to contracting disease from non-siblings to which they lack immunological defenses. We investigated kin discrimination and pathogen transmission among Korean salamander (Hynobius leechii) larvae. We placed broad-headed morph larvae into a circular arena together with two normal morph larvae, one their sibling and the other a non-sibling. To test for kin discrimination, we recorded all behavioral interactions among them. To study pathogen transmission, we fed broad-headed larvae either a sibling or non-sibling normal larva that we previously had infected with the bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila. Two days after ingestion, we determined whether the bacterium had systemically infected cannibals by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Broad-headed larvae discriminated between sibling and non-sibling normal larvae, directing aggressive behaviors mostly toward siblings. Infection loads varied more widely among broad-headed larvae that cannibalized non-siblings than those that cannibalized siblings, but the highest infection loads were recorded after ingestion of nonsiblings. Cannibalizing non-siblings thus may increase the risk of contracting disease. Broad-headed larvae discriminate most strongly between siblings and non-siblings late in development, when inclusive fitness costs of cannibalizing relatives diminish and vulnerability to novel pathogens transmitted by non-relatives rises.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kin discrimination in polyphenic salamander larvae: trade-offs between inclusive fitness and pathogen transmission

Garza

Waldman

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Mechanisms which allow individuals to differentially respond towards others based on their likely degree of relatedness include spatial distribution (such as sex-biased dispersal), social familiarity, phenotype matching, or recognition alleles (reviewed in Komdeur and Hatchwell 1999). Kin selection has been widely demonstrated in contexts such as predator evasion (Sherman 1977), colony defence and propagation in eusocial insects (Queller and Strassman 1998), parental care (Shields 1984), and selective cannibalism (Walls and Roudebush 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relatedness and age reduce aggressive male interactions over mating in domestic fowl

et al. 2017

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“…Kin recognition has been identified in a wide variety of organisms, including many amphibians (reviewed in Fletcher andMichener 1987, Sherman et al 1997). Studies of kin recognition in amphibians have often examined it in the context of cannibalism (Walls and Roudebush 1991, Pfennig and Collins 1993. Cannibalism, or the killing and ingestion of conspecifics, is widespread in nature (Polis 1981, Elgar andCrespi 1992) and is found in many groups of amphibians, with the most frequent type being that of larvae Resumo Discriminação de relativos em girinos canibais de Dendrobates auratus (Anura, Dendrobatidae).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discriminação de relativos em girinos canibais de Dendrobates auratus (Anura, Dendrobatidae)

Gray¹,

Summers²,

D³

2009

Phyllomedusa

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Kin discrimination in cannibalistic tadpoles of the Green Poison Frog,Dendrobates auratus (Anura, Dendrobatidae). Cannibalizing a related individual can reduce the inclusive fitness of the cannibal. Hence, mechanisms that allow a tadpole to recognize and modify its behavior toward kin may reduce the inclusive fitness costs of cannibalism. Alternatively, ecological factors may cause preferential treatment of kin to be too costly to be favored by selection. We tested these two predictions in the Green Poison Frog, Dendrobates auratus. The effect of kinship on larval cannibalism was examined through a series of kin-discrimination trials. The behavior of large tadpoles was observed when presented with two small, tethered tadpoles, one a clutchmate and one an unrelated tadpole. In these simultaneous presentation tests, tadpoles displayed a significant preference for attacking kin. In a series of timed trials, pairs of unequally sized tadpoles were placed together in containers. The majority (70%) of large tadpoles took less than 24 hr to consume the small tadpole. Kinship did not affect the survival time of the small tadpole. Our results are consistent with observations that D. auratus is an indiscriminate predator. As conspecifics may be serious competitors, their swift elimination would be an advantage, particularly in the small, nutrient-poor pools used by this species.

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Reduced Aggression Toward Siblings as Evidence of Kin Recognition in Cannibalistic Salamanders

Cited by 53 publications

References 34 publications

Kin discrimination in polyphenic salamander larvae: trade-offs between inclusive fitness and pathogen transmission

Kin discrimination in polyphenic salamander larvae: trade-offs between inclusive fitness and pathogen transmission

Relatedness and age reduce aggressive male interactions over mating in domestic fowl

Discriminação de relativos em girinos canibais de Dendrobates auratus (Anura, Dendrobatidae)

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