Highly stable individual differences in the emission of separation calls during early development in the domestic cat.
Study of the development of individuality is often hampered by rapidly changing behavioral repertoires and the need for minimally intrusive tests. We individually tested 33 kittens from eight litters of the domestic cat in an arena for 3 min once a week for the first 3 postnatal weeks, recording the number of separation calls and the duration of locomotor activity. Kittens showed consistent and stable individual differences on both measures across and within trials. Stable individual differences in the emission of separation calls across trials emerged already within the first 10 s of testing, and in locomotor activity within the first 30 s. Furthermore, individual kittens' emission of separation calls, but not their locomotor activity, was highly stable within trials. We conclude that separation calls provide an efficient, minimally intrusive and reliable measure of individual differences in behavior during development in the cat, and possibly in other species emitting such calls.
Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
Robyn
R
Hudson
Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
Jimena
J
Chacha
Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
Oxána
0000-0002-1704-3539
O
Bánszegi
Centro Tlaxcala de Biología de la Conducta, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Péter
0000-0002-8495-1633
P
Szenczi
Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimental et Comparée EA4443, Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
Heiko G
HG
Rödel
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
Felis silvestris catus; domestic cat; locomotion; ontogeny; personality; vocalization