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Size-dependent tradeoffs in aggressive behavior towards kin

View ORCID ProfileChloe Fouilloux, View ORCID ProfileLutz Fromhage, View ORCID ProfileJanne K. Valkonen, View ORCID ProfileBibiana Rojas
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.350132
Chloe Fouilloux
1Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, Finland
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  • For correspondence: chloe.a.fouilloux@gmail.com bibiana.rojas@jyu.fi
Lutz Fromhage
1Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Janne K. Valkonen
1Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, Finland
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Bibiana Rojas
1Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Jyvaskyla, Jyväskylä, Finland
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  • For correspondence: chloe.a.fouilloux@gmail.com bibiana.rojas@jyu.fi
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Abstract

Aggression between juveniles can be unexpected, as their primary motivation is to survive until their reproductive stage. However, instances of aggression, which may escalate to cannibalism, can be vital for survival, although the factors (e.g. genetic or environmental) leading to cannibalism vary across taxa. While cannibalism can greatly accelerate individual growth, it may also reduce inclusive fitness when kin are consumed. As a solution to this problem, some cannibals demonstrate kin discrimination and preferentially attack unrelated individuals. Here, we used both experimental and modeling approaches to consider how physical traits (e.g. size in relation to opponent) and genetic relatedness mediate aggressive behavior in dyads of cannibalistic Dendrobates tinctorius tadpoles. We paired sibling, half-sibling, and non-sibling tadpoles of different sizes together in an arena and recorded their aggression and activity. We found that the interaction between size and relatedness predicts aggressive behavior: large non-siblings are significantly more aggressive than large siblings. Unexpectedly, although siblings tended to attack less overall, in size mismatched pairs they attacked faster than in non-sibling treatments. Ultimately, it appears that larval aggression reflects a balance between relatedness and size where individuals trade-off their own fitness with that of their relatives.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • ↵2 chloe.a.fouilloux{at}jyu.fi

  • ↵3 lutz.fromhage{at}jyu.fi

  • ↵4 janne.k.valkonen{at}jyu.fi

  • ↵5 bibiana.rojas{at}jyu.fi

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted October 26, 2020.
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Size-dependent tradeoffs in aggressive behavior towards kin
Chloe Fouilloux, Lutz Fromhage, Janne K. Valkonen, Bibiana Rojas
bioRxiv 2020.10.26.350132; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.350132
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Size-dependent tradeoffs in aggressive behavior towards kin
Chloe Fouilloux, Lutz Fromhage, Janne K. Valkonen, Bibiana Rojas
bioRxiv 2020.10.26.350132; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.26.350132

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