Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm
Here we employed the partner preference test (PPT) to examine how naked mole-rat non-breeding individuals of different behavioral phenotypes make social decisions. Naked mole-rats from six colonies were classified into three behavioral phenotypes (soldiers, dispersers, and workers) using a battery o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.860885/full |
| _version_ | 1818266372953604096 |
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| author | Ilapreet Toor Rashoun Maynard Xinye Peng Annaliese K. Beery Melissa M. Holmes Melissa M. Holmes Melissa M. Holmes |
| author_facet | Ilapreet Toor Rashoun Maynard Xinye Peng Annaliese K. Beery Melissa M. Holmes Melissa M. Holmes Melissa M. Holmes |
| author_sort | Ilapreet Toor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Here we employed the partner preference test (PPT) to examine how naked mole-rat non-breeding individuals of different behavioral phenotypes make social decisions. Naked mole-rats from six colonies were classified into three behavioral phenotypes (soldiers, dispersers, and workers) using a battery of behavioral tests. They then participated in a 3 h long PPT, where they could freely interact with a tethered familiar or tethered unfamiliar conspecific. By comparing the three behavioral phenotypes, we tested the hypothesis that the PPT can be used to interrogate social decision-making in this species, revealing individual differences in behavior that are consistent with discrete social phenotypes. We also tested whether a shorter, 10 min version of the paradigm is sufficient to capture group differences in behavior. Overall, soldiers had higher aggression scores toward unfamiliar conspecifics than both workers and dispersers at the 10 min and 3 h comparison times. At the 10 min comparison time, workers showed a stronger preference for the familiar animal’s chamber, as well as for investigating the familiar conspecific, compared to both dispersers and soldiers. At the 3 h time point, no phenotype differences were seen with chamber or investigation preference scores. Overall, all phenotypes spent more time in chambers with another animal vs. being alone. Use of the PPT in a comparative context has demonstrated that the test identifies species and group differences in affiliative and aggressive behavior toward familiar and unfamiliar animals, revealing individual differences in social decision-making and, importantly, capturing aspects of species-specific social organization seen in nature. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:05:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fdf5a734c1a24bb7b0adc3fc0282b417 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:05:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-fdf5a734c1a24bb7b0adc3fc0282b4172022-12-22T00:13:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2022-04-011010.3389/fevo.2022.860885860885Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference ParadigmIlapreet Toor0Rashoun Maynard1Xinye Peng2Annaliese K. Beery3Melissa M. Holmes4Melissa M. Holmes5Melissa M. Holmes6Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaDepartment of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaDepartment of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaHere we employed the partner preference test (PPT) to examine how naked mole-rat non-breeding individuals of different behavioral phenotypes make social decisions. Naked mole-rats from six colonies were classified into three behavioral phenotypes (soldiers, dispersers, and workers) using a battery of behavioral tests. They then participated in a 3 h long PPT, where they could freely interact with a tethered familiar or tethered unfamiliar conspecific. By comparing the three behavioral phenotypes, we tested the hypothesis that the PPT can be used to interrogate social decision-making in this species, revealing individual differences in behavior that are consistent with discrete social phenotypes. We also tested whether a shorter, 10 min version of the paradigm is sufficient to capture group differences in behavior. Overall, soldiers had higher aggression scores toward unfamiliar conspecifics than both workers and dispersers at the 10 min and 3 h comparison times. At the 10 min comparison time, workers showed a stronger preference for the familiar animal’s chamber, as well as for investigating the familiar conspecific, compared to both dispersers and soldiers. At the 3 h time point, no phenotype differences were seen with chamber or investigation preference scores. Overall, all phenotypes spent more time in chambers with another animal vs. being alone. Use of the PPT in a comparative context has demonstrated that the test identifies species and group differences in affiliative and aggressive behavior toward familiar and unfamiliar animals, revealing individual differences in social decision-making and, importantly, capturing aspects of species-specific social organization seen in nature.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.860885/fullaffiliationaggressionbehavioral phenotypeeusocialnaked mole-ratpartner preference |
| spellingShingle | Ilapreet Toor Rashoun Maynard Xinye Peng Annaliese K. Beery Melissa M. Holmes Melissa M. Holmes Melissa M. Holmes Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution affiliation aggression behavioral phenotype eusocial naked mole-rat partner preference |
| title | Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm |
| title_full | Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm |
| title_fullStr | Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm |
| title_full_unstemmed | Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm |
| title_short | Naked Mole-Rat Social Phenotypes Vary in Investigative and Aggressive Behavior in a Laboratory Partner Preference Paradigm |
| title_sort | naked mole rat social phenotypes vary in investigative and aggressive behavior in a laboratory partner preference paradigm |
| topic | affiliation aggression behavioral phenotype eusocial naked mole-rat partner preference |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.860885/full |
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