Abstract
The roles of kinship in agonistic behavior and mate choice were evaluated in Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti). In chambers bedded with familiar or unfamiliar substrates, the aggressive behavior and social investigation towards adult unfamiliar same-sex siblings and non-siblings were examined, and no significant kin bias was found. Males sniffed and followed unfamiliar unrelated females significantly more than unfamiliar sibling sisters, but males did not show significant preferences in copulatory behavior and agonistic behavior. Females spent significantly more time copulating with unfamiliar unrelated males than with their unfamiliar sibling brothers, while they did not show a significant preference in social investigation between them. Our study shows that kinship might play a role in the inbreeding avoidance based on preweaning familiarity or/and phenotype matching, but the role of kinship in agonistic behavior remains unclear.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldhous P (1989) The effects of individual cross-fostering on the development of intrasexual kin discrimination in male laboratory mice, Mus musculus L. Anim Behav 37:741–750
Barnard CJ, Fitzsimons J (1988) Kin recognition and mate choice in mice: the effects of kinship, familiarity and social interference on intersexual interaction. Anim Behav 36:1078–1090
Barnard CJ, Hurst JL, Aldhous P (1991) Of mice and kin: the functional significance of kin bias in social behaviour. Biol Rev Cambridge Philos Soc 66:379–430
Berger PJ, Negus NC, Day M (1997) Recognition of kin and avoidance of inbreeding in the Montane vole, Microtus montanus. J Mammal 78:1182–1186
Bollinger EK, Harper SJ, Barrett GW (1993) Inbreeding avoidance increase dispersal movements of the meadow vole. Ecology 74:1153–1156
Boyd SK, Blaustein AR (1985) Familiarity and inbreeding avoidance in the gray-tailed vole (Microtus canicaudus). J Mammal 66:348–352
D'amato FR, Pavone F (1996) Renunion of separated sibling mice: neurobiological and behavioral aspects. Neurobiol Learn Mem 65:9–16
Fang J, Sun R (1991) Seasonal dynamics of the spatial patterns of Brandt's voles (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Ecol Sinica 11:111–116
Ferguson B, Fuentes SM, Sawrey DK, Dewsbury DA (1986) Male preferences for unmated versus mated females in two species of voles (Microtus ochrogaster and Microtus montanus). J Comp Psychol 100:243–247
Ferkin MH, Rutka TF (1990) Mechanisms of sibling recognition in meadow voles. Can J Zool 68 609–613
Ferkin MH, Sorokin ES, Johnston RE (1996) Self-grooming as a sexually dimorphic communicative behaviour in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Anim Behav 51:801–810
Fletcher DJC (1987) The behavioral analysis of kin recognition: perspectives on methodology and interpretation. In: Fletcher DJC, Michener CD (ed) Kin recognition in animals. Wiley, New York, pp 19–54
Fuller CA, Blaustein AR (1990) An investigation of sibling recognition in a solitary sciurid, Townsend's chipmunk, Tamias townsendii. Behaviour 112:36–52
Group I (Department of Animal Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica) (1979) Studies on the home range of Brandt's voles (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Zool Sin 25:169–175
Hamilton WD (1964) The genetical evolution of social behavior. J Theor Biol 7:1–52
Hepper PG (1991) Recognizing kin: ontogeny and classification. In: Hepper PG (ed) Kin recognition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 259–287
Holmes WG (1986) Kin recognition by phenotype matching in female Belding's ground squirrels. Anim Behav 34:38–47
Holmes WG (1995) The ontogeny of littermate preferences in juvenile golden-mantled ground squirrels: effects of rearing and relatedness. Anim Behav 50:309–322
Holmes WG, Sherman PW (1983) Kin recognition in animals. Am Sci 71:46–55
Hurst JL, Fang J, Barnard CJ (1994) The role of substrate odours in maintaining social tolerance between male house mice, Mus musculus domesticus: relatedness, incidental kinship effects and the establishment of social status. Anim Behav 48:157–167
Kareem AM (1983) Effect of increasing periods of familiarity on social interactions between male sibling mice. Anim Behav 31:919–926
Kareem AM, Barnard CJ (1982) The importance of kinship and familiarity in social interactions between mice. Anim Behav 30:594–601
Keane B (1990) The effect of relatedness on reproductive success and mate choice in white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. Anim Behav 39:264–273
Lambin X (1994) Natal philopatry, competition for resources, and inbreeding avoidance in Townsend's voles (Microtus townsendii). Ecology 75:224–235
Lambin X, Krebs CJ (1991) Can changes in female relatedness influence microtine population dynamics? Oikos 61:126–132
Lambin X, Mathers C (1997) Dissipation of kin discrimination in Orkney voles, Microtus arvalis orcadensis: a laboratory study. Ann Zool Fenn 34: 23–30
Maynard Smith J (1964) Kin selection and group selection. Nature 201:1145–1147
McGuire MR, Getz LL (1981) Incest taboo between sibling Microtus ochrogaster. J Mammal 62:213–215
Waldman B (1987) Mechanisms of kin recognition. J Theor Biol 128:159–185
Wan XR, Zhong WQ, Wang MJ, Wang GH (1999) The cohort life table of the Brandt's vole (Microtus brandtii) in Inner Mongolian grasslands, China. In: Zhang Z, Hinds L, Singleton G, Wang Z (ed) Rodent biology and management. Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp 23–24
Waser NM (1993) Sex, mating systems, inbreeding, and outbreeding. In: Thomhill NW (ed) The natural history of inbreeding and outbreeding: theoretical and empirical perspectives. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 1–13
Webster DG, Williams MH, Dewsbury DA (1982) Female regulation and choice in the copulatory behavior of montane voles (Microtus montanus). J Comp Physiol Psychol 96:661–667
Winn BE, Vestal BM (1986) Kin recognition and choice of males by wild female house mice (Mus musculus). J Comp Psychol 100:72–75
Xie X, Sun R, Fang J (1994) The mating system and reproduction of Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti) (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Zool Sin 40:262–265
Yin F, Fang J (1998) Mate choice in Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti) (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Zool Sin 44:162–169
Zhang J, Zhong W (1981) On the colonial structure of Brandt's vole in burrow units (in Chinese with English abstract). Acta Theriol Sin 1:51–56
Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Wenqin Zhong and Dehua Wang in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for their helpful comments on the manuscript. And we are grateful to the personnel of the Group of Animal Ecology in the Institute of Ecology, Beijing Normal University for the technical assistance and suggestion on this study. This study was partly supported by grants from the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (no. 39470117) and the Excellent Youth Teacher Fund in National Education Committee of China to J.F. and C.A.S. (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Innovation Program.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Yu, X., Sun, R. & Fang, J. Effect of kinship on social behaviors in Brandt's voles (Microtus brandti). J Ethol 22, 17–22 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-003-0097-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-003-0097-8