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Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha)
SIMPLE SUMMARY: The paca (Cuniculus paca), a Neotropical caviomorph rodent, provides the most sought-after game meat in all its range, and it therefore faces high hunting pressure and consequent poor welfare. The species is categorised as having a conservation status of “least concern” and appears r...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911602/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33498936 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11020293 |
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author | Nogueira, Selene S. C. Nogueira-Filho, Sérgio L. G. Duarte, José M. B. Mendl, Michael |
author_facet | Nogueira, Selene S. C. Nogueira-Filho, Sérgio L. G. Duarte, José M. B. Mendl, Michael |
author_sort | Nogueira, Selene S. C. |
collection | PubMed |
description | SIMPLE SUMMARY: The paca (Cuniculus paca), a Neotropical caviomorph rodent, provides the most sought-after game meat in all its range, and it therefore faces high hunting pressure and consequent poor welfare. The species is categorised as having a conservation status of “least concern” and appears resilient to over-hunting by humans, which may be related to individuals’ behavioural characteristics. To investigate this, we submitted captive pacas to temperament (personality) tests designed to assess individual responses to short challenges and to evaluate individuals’ emotional states. Our results showed that paca with a “restless” temperament performed more abnormal behaviour and less exploratory behaviour in a test of defensive behaviour, which elevations in faecal glucocorticoid metabolites indicated to be stressful. Plasticity in defensive behaviour was inferred from changes in behavioural responses and apparently rapid adaptation to different levels of risk. Our results suggest that individual differences and consistency of behavioural responses displayed by paca toward challenges may reflect a generally flexible and successful defensive behavioural response that underpins the paca’s survival, despite the threat of overhunting throughout its range. ABSTRACT: Within a species, some individuals are better able to cope with threatening environments than others. Paca (Cuniculus paca) appear resilient to over-hunting by humans, which may be related to the behavioural plasticity shown by this species. To investigate this, we submitted captive pacas to temperament tests designed to assess individual responses to short challenges and judgement bias tests (JBT) to evaluate individuals’ affective states. Results indicated across-time and context stability in closely correlated “agitated”, “fearful” and “tense” responses; this temperament dimension was labelled “restless”. Individual “restless” scores predicted responses to novelty, although not to simulated chasing and capture by humans in a separate modified defence test battery (MDTB). Restless animals were more likely to show a greater proportion of positive responses to an ambiguous cue during JBT after the MDTB. Plasticity in defensive behaviour was inferred from changes in behavioural responses and apparently rapid adaptation to challenge in the different phases of the MDTB. The results indicate that both temperament and behavioural plasticity may play a role in influencing paca responses to risky situations. Therefore, our study highlights the importance of understanding the role of individual temperament traits and behavioural plasticity in order to better interpret the animals’ conservation status and vulnerabilities. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7911602 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-79116022021-02-28 Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) Nogueira, Selene S. C. Nogueira-Filho, Sérgio L. G. Duarte, José M. B. Mendl, Michael Animals (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: The paca (Cuniculus paca), a Neotropical caviomorph rodent, provides the most sought-after game meat in all its range, and it therefore faces high hunting pressure and consequent poor welfare. The species is categorised as having a conservation status of “least concern” and appears resilient to over-hunting by humans, which may be related to individuals’ behavioural characteristics. To investigate this, we submitted captive pacas to temperament (personality) tests designed to assess individual responses to short challenges and to evaluate individuals’ emotional states. Our results showed that paca with a “restless” temperament performed more abnormal behaviour and less exploratory behaviour in a test of defensive behaviour, which elevations in faecal glucocorticoid metabolites indicated to be stressful. Plasticity in defensive behaviour was inferred from changes in behavioural responses and apparently rapid adaptation to different levels of risk. Our results suggest that individual differences and consistency of behavioural responses displayed by paca toward challenges may reflect a generally flexible and successful defensive behavioural response that underpins the paca’s survival, despite the threat of overhunting throughout its range. ABSTRACT: Within a species, some individuals are better able to cope with threatening environments than others. Paca (Cuniculus paca) appear resilient to over-hunting by humans, which may be related to the behavioural plasticity shown by this species. To investigate this, we submitted captive pacas to temperament tests designed to assess individual responses to short challenges and judgement bias tests (JBT) to evaluate individuals’ affective states. Results indicated across-time and context stability in closely correlated “agitated”, “fearful” and “tense” responses; this temperament dimension was labelled “restless”. Individual “restless” scores predicted responses to novelty, although not to simulated chasing and capture by humans in a separate modified defence test battery (MDTB). Restless animals were more likely to show a greater proportion of positive responses to an ambiguous cue during JBT after the MDTB. Plasticity in defensive behaviour was inferred from changes in behavioural responses and apparently rapid adaptation to challenge in the different phases of the MDTB. The results indicate that both temperament and behavioural plasticity may play a role in influencing paca responses to risky situations. Therefore, our study highlights the importance of understanding the role of individual temperament traits and behavioural plasticity in order to better interpret the animals’ conservation status and vulnerabilities. MDPI 2021-01-24 /pmc/articles/PMC7911602/ /pubmed/33498936 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11020293 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Nogueira, Selene S. C. Nogueira-Filho, Sérgio L. G. Duarte, José M. B. Mendl, Michael Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) |
title | Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) |
title_full | Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) |
title_fullStr | Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) |
title_full_unstemmed | Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) |
title_short | Temperament, Plasticity, and Emotions in Defensive Behaviour of Paca (Mammalia, Hystricognatha) |
title_sort | temperament, plasticity, and emotions in defensive behaviour of paca (mammalia, hystricognatha) |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911602/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33498936 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11020293 |
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