Meeting Abstract

12.10  Monday, Jan. 4  Of Voles, Mice, Chipmunks and Dogs: The Energetics of Animal Personality CAREAU, V.*; REALE, D.; HUMPHRIES, M.M.; THOMAS, D.W.; Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada; Canada Research Chair in behavioural ecology, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada; Natural Resource Sciences, Macdonald Campus, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Qc, Canada; Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada vincent.careau@usherbrooke.ca

Individuals consistently differ in their levels of activity, exploration, boldness, and aggressiveness. These differences – referred to as personality – are highly relevant to the evolutionary causes and consequences of variability in energy metabolism. However, few studies have considered whether variation in personality influences (or is influenced by) metabolic rates. In this presentation, we will test for the presence/absence of links between various metabolic and personality traits, working our way from inter-specific (comparative approach) to inter-individual level, using multiple study models (muroid rodent species, dog breeds, inbred mice strains individual lab mice, and free-ranging chipmunks). When appropriate, links with life-history traits are also shown. Ultimately, this research helps to better understand how suites of integrated traits evolve along a slow-fast life-history continuum to form a more general “pace-of-life” syndrome.