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Parenting behaviour is highly heritable in male stickleback
Alison M Bell1,2,3,4,5, Rebecca Trapp1, Jason Keagy1,2,3,4,5
1School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Royal Society Open Science
|February 8, 2018
Summary
Parental care behavior in three-spined stickleback is highly heritable, with a heritability estimate of ≥0.9. This suggests abundant genetic variation for parenting, indicating it can readily evolve and be further studied genetically.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral genetics
- Evolutionary biology
- Animal behavior
Background:
- Parental care is crucial for offspring survival and reproductive success.
- The genetic underpinnings of complex behaviors like parental care are not well understood.
- Three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) exhibit diverse behaviors and male-only parental care, making them an ideal model system.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the heritability of a specific parental behavior (fanning) in three-spined stickleback.
- To investigate the potential for evolutionary change in parental care behavior.
- To assess the genetic basis of parenting in a species with strong selection on male care.
Main Methods:
- Quantification of fanning behavior in a freshwater population of three-spined stickleback.
- Estimation of heritability using quantitative genetic methods.
- Assessment of genetic variation for fanning behavior.
Main Results:
- Heritability of fanning behavior was estimated to be ≥0.9, significantly greater than zero.
- Abundant genetic variation for fanning behavior was detected in the studied population.
- The results indicate strong genetic influence on male parenting behavior.
Conclusions:
- Parental fanning behavior in three-spined stickleback is highly heritable.
- Significant genetic variation suggests that parenting behavior is evolutionarily tractable.
- This system is well-suited for future genetic studies of parental care.
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