Sun L, MÜLLER-SCHWARZE D
Department of Biology, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York
Anim Behav. 1997 Sep;54(3):493-502. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1996.0440.
The hypothesis of kin recognition by phenotype matching predicts that relatives can be identified without previous contact, and/or that cues used for recognition can be learned indirectly from a third but related individual. This hypothesis was tested in the field using 22 beaver, Castor canadensisfamilies. Individually identifiable beavers were provided with a two-way choice between two experimental scent mounds, one of which was scented with the anal gland secretion (AGS) from an unfamiliar sibling of the test subjects, the other with AGS from an unfamiliar non-relative. Beavers showed less strong territorial responses to AGS from their siblings than to that from non-relatives. The mates of the test subjects, which were not related to, or familiar with, either of the AGS donors, also responded less strongly to the AGS from their mates' siblings than to that from other unfamiliar non-relatives. This discrimination was not shown when castoreum samples were tested instead of AGS. Therefore, it was concluded that (1) information about kinship in the beaver is coded in the AGS but not in the castoreum, (2) the mechanism of phenotype matching is used in beaver sibling recognition, and (3) the cue used in phenotype matching can be learned and used for recognition of related individuals by an unrelated individual.1997The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
通过表型匹配进行亲缘识别的假说预测，亲属可以在没有先前接触的情况下被识别出来，和/或用于识别的线索可以间接地从第三个但有亲缘关系的个体那里学到。该假说在野外使用22个海狸家族（加拿大海狸）进行了测试。为个体可识别的海狸提供了在两个实验气味土堆之间的双向选择，其中一个用测试对象不熟悉的同胞的肛门腺分泌物（AGS）加香，另一个用不熟悉的非亲属的AGS加香。与对非亲属的AGS相比，海狸对来自其同胞的AGS表现出较弱的领地反应。测试对象的配偶，它们与AGS供体中的任何一个都没有亲缘关系或不熟悉，对来自其配偶同胞的AGS的反应也比对其他不熟悉的非亲属的反应弱。当用海狸香样本而不是AGS进行测试时，没有显示出这种区分。因此，得出的结论是：（1）海狸中关于亲缘关系的信息编码在AGS中，而不在海狸香中；（2）表型匹配机制用于海狸同胞识别；（3）表型匹配中使用的线索可以被学习，并被无亲缘关系的个体用于识别相关个体。1997动物行为研究协会
