Abstract
In many animal species, individuals with certain morphological, physiological, or behavioural traits may have a disproportionately large role in determining group behaviour. While most empirical studies of leadership have focused on behaviour of individuals exploring new environments or foraging, little is known about leading behaviour in other ecological contexts. Here, we use a selective breeding design in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) to quantify the heritability of leadership in a cooperative context, and determine the behavioural traits associated with it. Firstly we found that phenotypic selection for high and low leadership (HL and LL, respectively) over three filial generations resulted in pronounced differences in leadership tendency with a moderate degree of heritability. In our assay of other social traits, LL males were more aggressive and sampled their social environment less than HL males, but HL and LL females did not differ in either aggressiveness or sociability. Traits such as boldness and exploratory tendency did not diverge between the two lines. Leading behaviour was thus associated with social traits in males, but not females; suggesting that there may be sex-specific mechanisms driving the emergence of leadership in this context. We discuss our findings in the context of the evolution of cooperation.
Highlights
In mobile social groups, specific individuals may have a disproportionally large role in determining a group’s movements and the timing of these[1,2,3]
We use the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) to quantify behavioural traits that are associated with leadership during cooperative interactions
We could score the inspection behaviour of focal individuals relative to this standard partner. We paired those with the highest leadership scores for the high leadership line (HL line) and those with the lowest leadership scores for the low leadership line (LL line)
Summary
Specific individuals may have a disproportionally large role in determining a group’s movements and the timing of these[1,2,3]. Willingness to accept risk (i.e. boldness) has been associated with leading: for example, in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), leading propensity in foraging tasks is negatively correlated with latency to leave a refuge[10,11,12] and latency to recover from an aerial predation attack simulation[13] These studies are part of a growing interest in leadership, its drivers and its effects on animal groups; most empirical studies focus on the leading behaviour of individuals moving in open fields e.g.11,13, exploring unfamiliar environments e.g.14, or on foraging trips[9,10,12] and we still know very little about leading behaviour in other ecologically relevant and important contexts. Aggressiveness, boldness and exploratory tendency in the third filial generation of these lines to determine the relationship between leadership and other behavioural traits
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