Kin Recognition in Guppies Uses Self-Referencing Based on Olfactory Cues.

AbstractKin recognition plays an important role in social behavior and evolution, but the proximate mechanisms by which individuals recognize kin remain poorly understood. In many species, individuals form a "kin template" that they compare with conspecifics' phenotypes to assess phenotypic similarity-and, by association, relatedness. Individuals may form a kin template through self-inspection (i.

Experimentally altered male mating behaviour affects offspring exploratory behaviour via nongenetic paternal effects.

Evidence is emerging that fathers can have nongenetic effects on the phenotypes of their offspring. Most studies have focused on the role that nongenetic modifications to sperm can have on offspring phenotype; however, fathers can also have nongenetic effects on offspring through their interactions with females, called female-mediated paternal effects. These effects can occur in situations where male phenotype, e.

The problem of estimating recent genetic connectivity in a changing world.

Accurate understanding of population connectivity is important to conservation because dispersal can play an important role in population dynamics, microevolution, and assessments of extirpation risk and population rescue. Genetic methods are increasingly used to infer population connectivity because advances in technology have made them more advantageous (e.g.

Effects of methylphenidate on responses to novelty in a teleost fish (Poecilia reticulata).

Novelty seeking, the willingness to explore novel stimuli, can have important fitness consequences. The neurotransmitter dopamine has been linked to this behavior in studies on lab animals including rodents and fish; however, few studies have investigated this association in individuals from natural populations. Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) show variation in willingness to explore novel objects and environments, and females tend to show a preference for novel males.