Experimental evolution of personality traits: open-field exploration in bank voles from a multidirectional selection experiment.

Evolution of complex physiological adaptations could be driven by natural selection acting on behavioral traits. Consequently, animal personality traits and their correlation with physiological traits have become an engaging research area. Here, we applied a unique experimental evolution model-lines of bank voles selected for (A) high exercise-induced aerobic metabolism, (H) ability to cope with low-quality herbivorous diet, and (P) intensity of predatory behavior, that is, traits shaping evolutionary path and diversity of mammals-and asked how the selection affected the voles' personality traits, assessed in an open field test.

Limits to sustained energy intake. XXIII. Does heat dissipation capacity limit the energy budget of lactating bank voles?

Understanding factors limiting sustained metabolic rate (SusMR) is a central issue in ecological physiology. According to the heat dissipation limit (HDL) theory, the SusMR at peak lactation is constrained by the maternal capacity to dissipate body heat. To test that theory, we shaved lactating bank voles (Myodes glareolus) to experimentally elevate their capacity for heat dissipation.

Evolution of basal metabolic rate in bank voles from a multidirectional selection experiment.

A major theme in evolutionary and ecological physiology of terrestrial vertebrates encompasses the factors underlying the evolution of endothermy in birds and mammals and interspecific variation of basal metabolic rate (BMR). Here, we applied the experimental evolution approach and compared BMR in lines of a wild rodent, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), selected for 11 generations for: high swim-induced aerobic metabolism (A), ability to maintain body mass on a low-quality herbivorous diet (H) and intensity of predatory behaviour towards crickets (P). Four replicate lines were maintained for each of the selection directions and an unselected control (C).

Learning ability in bank voles selected for high aerobic metabolism, predatory behaviour and herbivorous capability.

Although great progress has been made in understanding neurological mechanisms of cognitive processes, the questions concerning interrelation between evolution of cognitive abilities and evolution of diverse life histories and adaptive strategies remains largely open. We approached the problem using a unique experimental evolution model system: lines of bank voles selected for high swim-induced aerobic metabolism, intensity of predatory behaviour towards crickets, and ability to grow on a low-quality herbivorous diet. To test a hypothesis that selection for these traits resulted in correlated changes in spatial learning and memory, voles from generation 13 of the selected and unselected control lines were examined in Morris water maze.

Laboratory model of adaptive radiation: a selection experiment in the bank vole.

In a laboratory colony of a wild rodent, the bank vole Myodes (=Clethrionomys) glareolus, a multiway artificial selection experiment was applied to mimic evolution toward high aerobic metabolism achieved during locomotor activity, predatory behavior, and ability to cope with herbivorous diet. Four lines for each of the selection directions and four unselected control lines have been maintained. After three generations of within-family selection, the maximum rate of oxygen consumption achieved during swimming was 15% higher in the selected than in the control lines (least square means, adjusted for body mass: 252.