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. 2019 Feb 26;19(Suppl 1):44.
doi: 10.1186/s12862-019-1374-7.

Inheritance of the acoustic signal parameters in interspecific hybrids of the bank (Myodes glareolus) and the Tien Shan (M. centralis) voles

Marina Vladimirovna Rutovskaya  1
Affiliations

Inheritance of the acoustic signal parameters in interspecific hybrids of the bank (Myodes glareolus) and the Tien Shan (M. centralis) voles

Marina Vladimirovna Rutovskaya. BMC Evol Biol. .

Abstract

Background: The continuity of behavioral responses in the traits of offspring can be interpreted ambiguously because animal behavior can be transmitted from generation to generation genetically or can be trained. Inheritance of the sound signals characteristics in the absence of directional selection is of particular interest, and that was the purpose of the present work.

Results: Comparisons of distress signals of hybrids of the Tien Shan vole females Myodes centralis (Kyrgyzstan) and the bank vole males M. glareolus suecicus (the Tver region), and the parent species were made. Acoustic signals of the hybrids and parent species were compared using the variance and discriminant analysis. The distress signals of the Tien Shan voles were shorter, had lower peak frequency than the signals of the bank voles. The peak frequency of hybrids signals was closer to that of the bank voles. However, the duration of the hybrids sounds, on the contrary, was closer to that of the Tien Shan voles. The expression of the noise component in the sounds of the hybrids occupied an intermediate position. The discriminant analysis of distress signals in the Tien Shan and bank voles showed 94% of correct attributions.

Conclusions: Our results confirm that the acoustic signals parameters were inheritance intermediate. The paternal genome (the bank voles) had greater influence on parameters of the sound signals in hybrids.

Keywords: Inheritance of vocal signals; Rodents; Sound communication.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

During this work, I adhered to the ‘Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioral research and teaching’, published by the Animal Behavior Society [13], and to the laws on animal welfare for scientific research of the Russian Federation, where the study was conducted. A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution provided full approval for this purely observational research.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The author declare that she has no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Examples of sonograms and oscillograms of female’s distress signals of the bank and Tien Shan voles and their hybrids
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The location of hybrids according to the parameters of distress signals in the axes of the Mahalanobis distances between the parent species
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rutovskaya MV. Acoustic signaling in the red-backed voles (genus Clethrionomys). Phd. Moscow: Institute of Evolution Morphology and Ecology of animals RAN; 1990. [ in Russian].
    1. Rutovskaya MV. Acoustic activity and social behavior of the bank voles. In: Behavior, Communication, and Ecology of Mammals, Moscow: Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS; 1998; pp. 177–88. [ in Russian].
    1. Rutovskaya MV. Acoustic signaling in the social voles Microtus socialis. In: Bioresources and biodiversity of ecosystems of the Volga region: Int. Conf., April 24–28, 2005, Saratov: Izd. Saratov. Univ.; 2005; pp. p. 179–81. [in Russian].
    1. Rutovskaya MV. The 4th all-Russia Conf. On animal behavior. Moscow: KMK; 2007. Variability of acoustic signals in hybrids of the northern red-backed and bank voles; pp. 211–212.
    1. Zorenko TA, Rutovskaya MV. Social behavior and acoustic signals of the reed voles Microtus fortis (Rodentia, Arvicolinie) Zool Zhurnal. 2006;85(8):983–997.

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