Within-litter differences in personality and physiology relate to size differences among siblings in cavies

Abstract

Many aspects of an animal's early life potentially contribute to long-term individual differences in physiology and behaviour. From several studies on birds and mammals it is known that the early family environment is one of the most prominent factors influencing early development. Most of these studies were conducted on highly altricial species. Here we asked whether in the highly precocial cavy (Cavia aperea) the size rank within a litter, i.e. whether an individual is born as the heaviest, the lightest or an intermediate sibling, affects personality traits directly after birth and after independence. Furthermore, we investigated whether individual states (early growth, baseline cortisol and resting metabolic rate) differ between siblings of different size ranks and assessed their relation to personality traits. Siblings of the same litter differed in personality traits as early as three days after birth. Pups born heaviest in the litter were more explorative and in general more risk-prone than their smaller siblings. Physiological state variables were tightly correlated with personality traits and also influenced by the size rank within litter, suggesting that the size relative to littermates constitutes an important factor in shaping an individual's developmental trajectory. Our data add valuable information on how personalities are shaped during early phases of life and indicate the stability of developmentally influenced behavioural and physiological traits.