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Related Experiment Videos

Facial shape differences between rats selected for tame and aggressive behaviors.

Nandini Singh1,2, Frank W Albert3,4, Irina Plyusnina5

  • 1Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution & Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

Plos One
|April 4, 2017
PubMed
Summary

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Domestication syndrome traits in rats were studied. Tame rats showed craniofacial changes similar to domesticated animals, but not all domestication syndrome traits were present.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Developmental biology
  • Animal behavior

Background:

  • The domestication syndrome encompasses traits like tameness and altered craniofacial dimensions.
  • Altered neural crest cell (NCC) development is hypothesized to underlie these domestication traits.
  • Dmitri Belyaev's experiments with silver foxes and rats provide models for studying domestication.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate craniofacial changes in Belyaev's behaviorally selected rats.
  • To test if tameness in rats leads to domestication-like facial morphology.
  • To determine if NCC-derived facial regions differ between tame and aggressive rats.

Main Methods:

  • Computed-tomography (CT) scans of rat skulls were utilized.
  • Landmark-based geometric morphometrics were applied to analyze facial skeletons.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Facial shape was quantified and compared between behaviorally selected rat groups.

    • Main Results:

    • Significant facial shape differences were found between tame and aggressive rats, independent of size.
    • These craniofacial changes in tame rats resemble those in domesticated animals versus wild counterparts.
    • Reduced sexual dimorphism in facial morphology was not observed in the tame rats.

    Conclusions:

    • Tameness in rats is associated with specific craniofacial alterations, supporting the NCC development hypothesis.
    • However, not all aspects of the domestication syndrome, such as reduced sexual dimorphism, are consistently present.
    • This suggests that phenotypic trends within the domestication syndrome may vary across different experimental models.