Heart Rate during Conflicts Predicts Post-Conflict Stress-Related Behavior in Greylag Geese

Background: Social stressors are known to be among the most potent stressors in group-living animals. This is not only manifested in individual physiology (heart rate, glucocorticoids), but also in how individuals behave directly after a conflict. Certain ‘stress-related behaviors ’ such as autopreening, body shaking, scratching and vigilance have been suggested to indicate an individual’s emotional state. Such behaviors may also alleviate stress, but the behavioral context and physiological basis of those behaviors is still poorly understood. Methodology/Principal Findings: We recorded beat-to-beat heart rates (HR) of 22 greylag geese in response to agonistic encounters using fully implanted sensor-transmitter packages. Additionally, for 143 major events we analyzed the behavior shown by our focal animals in the first two minutes after an interaction. Our results show that the HR during encounters and characteristics of the interaction predicted the frequency and duration of behaviors shown after a conflict. Conclusions/Significance: To our knowledge this is the first study to quantify the physiological and behavioral responses to single agonistic encounters and to link this to post conflict behavior. Our results demonstrate that ‘stress-related behaviors’ are flexibly modulated by the characteristics of the preceding aggressive interaction and reflect the individual’s emotional strain, which is linked to autonomic arousal. We found no support for the stress-alleviating hypothesis, but we propose tha

The association between glutamine repeats in the androgen receptor gene and personality traits in dromedary camel (<i>Camelus dromedarius</i>)

<div><p>Temperament traits such as fearfulness are important as they define an animal’s responses to its environment and handling. The increasing automation of daily tasks and growing population limits contact between camels and humans. Such limitations contribute to fear of humans and changes in physical environment. Monoamine oxidase A (<i>MAOA</i>) and androgen receptor (<i>AR</i>) genes are important candidates associated with mammal personality. In our analysis, <i>MAOA</i> exon 15 showed no polymorphism but a novel polymorphism was seen in the camel <i>AR</i> exon 1; 16, 17, 18, and 19 glutamine repeats were detected. We genotyped 138 camels belonging to four Egyptian breeds: Maghrabi (<i>n</i> = 90), Sudani (<i>n</i> = 15), Somali (<i>n</i> = 23), and Baladi (<i>n</i> = 10) for <i>AR</i>. Out of the 90 genotyped Maghrabi camels, we evaluated responses of 33 and 32 mature females to a novel object and exposure to an unfamiliar person, respectively. <i>AR</i> gene showed a significant association based on the principal component (PC) score, which indicated the fear of human touch, and the PC score indicates fear during interaction with novel objects. Individuals carrying a shorter genotype in homozygote (<i>S/S</i>) were found to be more fearful. Furthermore, we found that Sudani and Somali breeds had a higher frequency of shorter genotype (<i>S/S</i>), which was associated with increased fearfulness. These findings reflect the behavioral tendency and consequently, affect the use of this breed. This is the first report showing the role of <i>AR</i> glutamine repeats influencing a behavioral trait in dromedary camels and leading to inter-breed differences. Fear-related traits reported here are important because camels cope with various types of stresses and fear, resulting from the demands of intensive production systems and racing events. However, further studies, employing functional genomics and linkage analysis are necessary for confirming the relationship between fearfulness and genetic variation.</p></div