Eluvathingal Lilly Margaret, Shanbhag Bhagyashri A, Saidapur Srinivas K
Department of Zoology, Karnatak University, Dharwad 580 003, India.
J Biosci. 2009 Sep;34(3):435-44. doi: 10.1007/s12038-009-0050-2.
In experiments with specially designed choice tanks, tadpoles of Bufo melanostictus spend significantly greater amounts of time near kin than near non-kin. However, in the absence of kin members, they prefer to spend more time near non-kin rather than stay away in isolation in the opposite blank zone with no company. This implies that association of toad tadpoles with their kin is due to attraction rather than repulsion from non-kin. Experiments designed to elucidate the sensory basis of kin recognition showed that toad tadpoles recognize their kin based on chemical cues rather than visual cues. They can also discriminate between homospecific non-kin and heterospecific (Sphaerotheca breviceps) tadpoles since the tadpoles spent significantly greater amounts of time near the former than near the latter. These findings suggest that where kin members are unavailable, selection may have favoured living with non-kin so as to derive benefits from group living and that a phenotype-matching mechanism may operate for both kin and species discrimination in B. melanostictus.
在使用特殊设计的选择池进行的实验中，黑眶蟾蜍的蝌蚪在亲属附近停留的时间明显比在非亲属附近长得多。然而，在没有亲属成员的情况下，它们更愿意在非亲属附近停留更长时间，而不是独自待在对面没有同伴的空白区域。这意味着蟾蜍蝌蚪与亲属的关联是由于对非亲属的吸引而非排斥。旨在阐明亲属识别感官基础的实验表明，蟾蜍蝌蚪基于化学线索而非视觉线索识别亲属。它们还能区分同种非亲属和异种（短头泡蟾）蝌蚪，因为蝌蚪在前一种蝌蚪附近停留的时间明显比在后一种蝌蚪附近长得多。这些发现表明，在没有亲属成员的情况下，选择可能有利于与非亲属生活在一起，以便从群体生活中获得益处，并且在黑眶蟾蜍中，一种表型匹配机制可能同时用于亲属和物种识别。
