2015 Student Posters

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Effect of visual predator cues on tadpole growth
Jaelin Cola & Margalit Leiser (Abstract; Poster)

Dominance and eyebar activation: Can eyebar alterations reverse dominance hierarchies in male A. burtoni cichlids?
Jocelyn Hansson & Lauren Vanderhooft (Abstract; Poster)

Effects of sexdiscriminated communities on female Astatotilapia burtoni behavior and testosterone levels
Clara Herrera ( Abstract; Poster)

Castaway: Effects of social isolation on food motivation and exploratory behavior
Jasmine Huang & Shirin Porkar-Aghdam (Abstract; Poster)

Plasticity of Female Cichlid Hierarchies
Alex Loukides & Hannah McConnell (Abstract; Poster)

Social interactions and aggression in the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
E. Kushkowski & D. Herb (Abstract; Poster)

Howdy Neighbor! The Behavioral Variation Between Neighboring Stickleback Populations
Sydney LaStella (Abstract; Poster)

Guppy's Sixth Sense: Do predator diets affect inspection behaviors in Poecilia reticulata?
Mary Cho (Abstract; Poster)

Predator Responses of Astatotilapia burtoni
Sophia McKean, Nathaniel Klein (Abstract; Poster)

Out of the Spotlight Chimpanzees and Crowd Aversion
James Holland & Theresa Steele (Abstract ; Poster)

Red fish, yellow fish: Morph-based differences in hormone response to an aggressive encounter in the cichlid P. pulcher
Rose Driscoll & Hulali Alford (Abstract; Poster)
STUDENT AWARD "BEST IP SCIENCE"

Forgetful Fish: Time Frame for Remembered Mate Choice Copying in Female Guppies
Kerry Jones, Linden Mullins, and Aubrey Pelz (Abstract; Poster)
STUDENT AWARD "BEST POSTER"

Reduced Glucocorticoid Receptor Expression in Maternally Deprived Cichlids
James Ryan & Mikela Sheskier (Abstract; Poster)
STUDENT AWARD "MOST HEROIC SCIENCE"

Reduced Glucocorticoid Receptor Expression in Maternally Deprived Cichlids
James Ryan & Mikela Sheskier
Early life conditions have persistent effects on gene and receptor expression. The quality
of maternal care is one early life condition that can induce robust physiological changes that are
maintained later in life. One such change is dysregulation of the hypothalamicpituitaryadrenal
(HPA) axis, which is partially mediated by changes in glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression.
Such expression differences have been shown to be region dependent as GR expression
decreases in the hippocampus of animals with poor maternal care while increasing in the
amygdala. However, research on this topic outside of nonmammalian
species has been limited.
To remedy this inequity, the current study investigated the effects of different conditions of
maternal care in male African cichlids ( Astatotilapia burtoni ) on GR expression in the brain. We
predicted that although there may be opposite effects in different brain regions among
maternally deprived fish that the overall effect would be a significant decrease in GR
expression. To test this hypothesis we quantified GR expression in the brains of male cichlids
separated from their mothers on different postnatal days. We found that there was a
nonsignificant
decrease in GR expression in the maternally deprived group when compared to
their control counterparts. This finding supports our original hypothesis that there would an
overall decrease in GR expression in the brains of maternally deprived subjects. Further
research should target GR expression in specific brain regions, such as the cichlid hippocampus
and amygdala analogues, while additionally exploring behavioral differences that result from
maternal deprivation.

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Forgetful Fish: Time Frame for Remembered Mate Choice Copying in Female Guppies
Kerry Jones, Linden Mullins, and Aubrey Pelz
In many fish mating systems, courtship and mating activities between a male and a female frequently occur in the presence of other conspecifics. Several studies have demonstrated that female guppies will copy the mate-choice of a larger female. In sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna), females have the capacity to remember and copy the mate choice of another female more than a day after observing the other female’s mate choice. However, little is known about the memory span of guppies with regards to mate choice copying. We used the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) to study whether female guppies would continue to exhibit mate choice copying behavior a day after witnessing the mate choice of a larger female. For each trial, a female was placed in a tank with two males contained in jars at opposite ends of the tank. We then recorded the proportion of time she spent near the males 15 minutes and a day after witnessing the simulated mate choice of a larger female. Some females showed extended mate choice copying, while others did not. Our results do not show a clear trend in mate choice copying after the allotted 15 minute and 24 hour periods, which may indicate that the range of variation for “remembering” a copied mate choice in female guppies is outside of the 15 minutes to 24 hours which we measured.

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Red fish, yellow fish: Morph-based differences in hormone response to an aggressive encounter in the cichlid P. pulcher
Rose Driscoll & Hulali Alford
There is an extensive body of research on the subject of alternative reproductive tactics; there is also a separate body of research on the challenge hypothesis. An individual’s mating strategy hugely impacts its experiences with and responses to challenges. However, studies combining these two fields of research to investigate their interaction are scarce. The freshwater cichlid Pelvicachromis pulcher is the ideal study species for this question: it has two alternate male reproductive strategies, “red” and “yellow”, and each morph has the option of two different reproductive tactics. Red males may be polygynous (harem males) or monogamous (pair males), while yellow males may be monogamous or may be satellites on a harem male’s territory. Males differ across morphs and mating tactics in their territory defense behavior. We asked whether the different sexes and morphs of P. pulcher would differ in their testosterone response to an aggressive encounter. We conducted an experiment in which a P. pulcher fish engaged in an aggressive encounter with a larger cichlid (a male A. burtoni). Hormones were collected before and after the encounter and an ELISA was performed to quantify hormone responses in males of different morphs as well as in females. We found that testosterone baseline levels and responses differ across sexes and morphs. In particular, red males have a lower testosterone baseline than other morphs, but show increased testosterone levels in response to a challenge. Intensity of aggressive encounter was a potential confounding factor which should be monitored in future studies.

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Predator Responses of Astatotilapia burtoni
Sophia McKean*, Nathaniel Klein* (*contributed equally)
Previous research has shown that there is a difference in predation responses between
feral and domestic guppies (Swaney et al 2015). Additionally, it has been shown that changes in
cortisol levels correlate with changes in social status in A. burtoni (Maruska 2015). We were
interested in how not only domestication but also social status influences predation responses in
cichlids, because there appears to be little research on either of these two topics in the current
literature. We hypothesised that lab stock cichlids would exhibit less predation avoidance
behavior in response to predator cues because they have faced less selective pressure for
predator avoidance than wild stock fish. Our second hypothesis was that dominant fish would
show less predation avoidance behavior in response to predator cues because they have more
to risk if they do not show bold and aggressive behavior. To test these hypotheses we had a
dominant and subordinate pair of both lab and wild stocks of A. burtoni which we exposed to a
predator cue made of homogenized fish, and recorded the behaviors using ethograms in
Jwatcher. We compared their behavior as well as their cortisol levels from both before and after
exposure to the cue, and measured cortisol levels with EIA and ELIZA techniques and
protocols. We found that, within our sample size, we were not able to support our concerning
dominance, although it appears that dominant fish froze slightly more than subordinate fish, nor
were we able to correlate behavioral responses with cortisol level changes. However, our
hypothesis that domesticated cichlids would show less predation avoidance than wild cichlids
was supported.

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Guppy's Sixth Sense: Do predator diets affect inspection behaviors in Poecilia reticulata?
Mary Cho
Many animals have been shown to inspect their predators and when doing so, exhibit attack cone avoidance, a phenomenon in which prey inspect their predators away from the head region to decrease the risk of being captured. Brown and Schwarzbauer (2001) found that these antipredator behaviors can change depending on the different dietbased chemical cues emitted by the predator. They specifically found that Hemigrammus erythrozonus (Glowlight Tetras) show increased attack cone avoidance when inspecting tetrafed predators as opposed to fooddeprived or swordtailfed predators even though inspection rates stay constant throughout the three conditions (Brown and Schwarzbauer 2001). Thus, this study assessed whether these findings could be generalized to guppies. I observed antipredator behaviors of male and female Poecilia reticulata (Trinidadian guppies) when exposed to male wildtype
Astatotilapia Burtoni ( Lake Tanganyikan cichlids) put on a guppy diet versus on a tetra or commercial pellet diet. Dashing, shoaling, freezing, inspection, and attack cone avoidance behaviors and their rates were measured using scan sampling. Results showed that average inspection rates per minute were greater for guppies exposed to guppyfed predators than those exposed to the other two predators. Whereas male guppies exposed to guppyfed
cichlids had higher tail to head inspection ratios than the males in the other two treatments, female guppies exposed to tetrafed had higher tail to head inspection ratios than the females in the other two treatments. The findings suggest that guppies inspect more frequently when exposed to a guppyfed predator, and they exhibit attack cone avoidance regardless of predator dietbased chemical cues, but this behavior increases in response to guppyfed cichlids only for males.

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Howdy Neighbor! The Behavioral Variation Between Neighboring Stickleback Populations
Sydney LaStella
The majority of individuals in any given species tend to express similar behaviors. When
behaviors diverge, environmental factors can often be held accountable. Two bodies of water
exist on Reed College Campus, both with sizeable populations of Threespine Stickleback
(Gasterosteus aculeatus). Because the conditions of a population's personal ecosystem play a
role in expression of behavior, it was hypothesized that specific behaviors would vary between
each group of stickleback. Roughly 30 fish from the Reed College Canyon Pond and Ritmanis
Pond were obtained using a cage trap. In a temperature controlled room, members of each
ecosystem were tested for their sociability, attack response, and boldness. For each experiment,
the behaviors of different sets of fish were sampled and recorded. While there was no significant
difference in attack response between populations, the difference in boldness between each
population was statistically significant, as was the difference in sociability of each population.
These behavioral differences could be a product of water quality differences, varying levels of
predation or a number of other factors.

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Social interactions and aggression in the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus)
E . Kushkowski & D. Herb
The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is a social species of carrion bird, with a hierarchy based primarily upon dominant behavior in the wild. The aim of this experiment was to observe and quantify behaviors of condors housed at the Oregon Zoo. Behavioral observation was performed from the lower observation station and consisted of 30-minute recording sessions divided into 10 three-minute observation periods. Behaviors were recorded using one-zero sampling according to an ethogram of relevant behaviors. From this data, the total frequency for each behavior was calculated. Dominance structure was constructed based on ad libitum observations and ranking based on behavior frequencies. Based on our findings, we conclude that the frequency of selected behaviors is correlated with the dominance hierarchy and the social structure is not based entirely on the age of the condors.

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Shockingly Stressful: Correlating changes in cortisol concentration and EOD frequency change in Apteronotus albifrons as a reaction to social interaction.
Denis Ivanov & Stephanie Opiyo
Apteronotus albifrons, or black ghost knifefish, are species of gymnotiform fish. These fish are nocturnal and use their electrical signals to sense the physical environment around the fish, allowing some semblance of vision, despite their poor eyesight and murky, dark habitats. Although the primary function of EOD discharges is for sensing surroundings, changes in EOD frequencies occur according to social hierarchy, suggesting that the electrical signals are used in communication between the fish as well . In black ghost knifefish, the more dominant fish tend to emit lower frequency electrical signals, and gradual frequency rises have been shown to occur when a subdominant fish is paired with a more dominant individual while the dominant individual does not exhibit a significant frequency shift . In observation of the fish both within the holding tank and experimental interactions, dominant fish have been shown to have privilege in establishing territories in the most ideal hiding places and in being able to eat before other fish when in more enclosed spaces. In addition, the fish tend to be aggressive towards other individuals lower on the social hierarchy, exhibiting behaviors such as guarding their resources or territory from, biting, charging at, and chasing the subdominant individuals. It is speculated that aggression directed at submissive individuals as well as limited resources as a result of existing lower on a hierarchy than other individuals may potentially result in cortisol increases in subdominant fish, which can then be correlated with these changes in EOD frequency. To test this, a set of four Apteronotus were subjected to a series of pairwise interactions and pre- and post-encounter EOD frequencies, while noting which fish exhibited more aggressive behavior. During the pre- and post-encounter periods, aqueous cortisol samples were collected and then tested using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) . Results showed a cubic relationship between the frequency change and the change in cortisol concentration, with the opposite polarity between dominant and subdominant individuals. Insofar as results are concerned, while there is a trend that is evident in our data, there is are too few data points and too much variance. We believe this variance to be caused by two factors: insufficient sample size and experimental noise. We had 4 fish meet in 10 interactions, and for better representation of the correlation, this should have been repeated with as many as 10 or more fish, but due to time and resource constraints, that proved to be impossible for this project. There was a tremendous amount of experimental noise introduced by way of uncontrolled variables. In future experiments, the data would benefit from having the following variables controlled more firmly: water temperature during all stages of the experiment (holding, collection, and interaction), fish morphology (length, weight, age, and sex), and the introduction of acclimation periods to ensure the fish were as close to a baseline as possible. We believe the data collected to strongly hint at a deeper correlation between these two, and further studies into the subject to have the potential to be fruitful.

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Plasticity of Female Cichlid Hierarchies
Alex Loukides & Hannah McConnell
In environments without males, female A. burtoni adopt aggressive male-type behaviors and form dominance hierarchies (Renn). These behaviors and hierarchies are maintained as long as the population remains undisturbed. When a dominant male is removed from a population of in a hierarchy, the subordinate males almost immediately begin to compete for dominance males and a new hierarchy with a new dominant male is established in about fifteen minutes (Shwartz). We investigated what the response females in dominance hierarchies had when the dominant female is removed. Female-only communities of four individuals were established. Dominance hierarchies formed naturally following the interaction of the fish. Dominant individuals were identified by behavioral observation, then removed to observe the response of the remaining cichlids, immediately following the removal of the dominant fish, in order to determine and interpret potential changes in their interactions. For all trials of this experiment, we found that immediately following the removal of a dominant female, the remaining females first hid, in an attempt to avoid perceived predators. Shortly after this, the cichlids move away from where they were hiding, and some begin to nip and charge at others, and try to claim shelter space. In all cases, the female that appeared to become dominant within the first fifteen minutes of observation retained this position when checked days and weeks later. Our findings indicate that female cichlids in dominance hierarchies behave in similar ways to the males when the dominant cichlid is removed, both in competition for higher positions, and in the amount of time for dominance to be established.

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Castaway: Effects of social isolation on food motivation and exploratory behavior
Jasmine Huang & Shirin Porkar-Aghdam
Ensuring captive animal welfare is not only important for ethical reasons, but also for good scientific research practice. Effective enrichment of laboratory animals should be adjusted to the specific species’ natural environment, of which a large component is comprised of social interaction. Rats in particular are highly social animals, living in large colonies in the wild but Sprague Dawley rats, bred for laboratory use, are often housed in social isolation during the course of research. Since they are bred specifically for the laboratory, their social nature is often neglected. This project examined the effects of social isolation on motivation for palatable food and exploratory behavior, two variables commonly correlated with stress in captive animals. To test the effects of social isolation, two female juvenile Sprague Dawley rats were deprived of social interaction for roughly 5 weeks, and two were pair housed for the same time. During this period, all 4 animals were run for roughly 25 sessions on a progressive ratio 3 schedule followed by an extinction schedule to assess food motivation for sucrose pellets. At the end of the 5 week social deprivation period, all 4 rats were tested on an elevated plus maze to assess exploratory behavior. In a rough trend, socially isolated rats demonstrated slightly higher food motivation than their pair housed counterparts, but there was no difference in exploratory behavior. These results indicate that social deprivation could be inducing stress in these rats. Future research should include different isolation periods and hormone measures for direct correlations.

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Out of the Spotlight Chimpanzees and Crowd Aversion
James Holland & Theresa Steele
Chimpanzee's have long been known to be highly social animals among themselves, however the nature of this sociality with respect to humans is less well understood. Zoos provide an opportunity to study the effects of close human contact on the behavior of chimpanzees. We investigated the relation between the number of humans and activity level of the exhibit with the behavior of the chimpanzees at the Oregon Zoo using scan and behavioral ethograms for when the chimpanzee's were adjacent to the outward-facing window.. We were especially interested in how the number of humans around the exhibit affects how the chimpanzees relate with the humans as well as each other. We found noticeable inverse correlations between the number of humans around the exhibit and the frequency with which the chimpanzees visited the windows facing the humans, whether or not while at the windows the chimpanzees faced outward or inward, as well as chimpanzee general activity. We also tracked the chimpanzee's human directed social behaviors (vocalizations, hand and facial expressions, etc.) but these occurred very infrequently, indicated a general lack of chimpanzee-human interaction. Our findings suggest that the chimpanzees in the Oregon Zoo tend to direct behaviors inward as well as be less active while in the presence of crowds. This may imply a general chimpanzee aversion to humans and/or crowds, but further research is necessary to discern why the chimpanzee's behavior was affected as it was.

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Effects of sexdiscriminated communities on female Astatotilapia burtoni behavior and testosterone levels
Clara Herrera
How do androgen levels vary depending on external environmental conditions? Previous studies have shown that female Astatotilapia burtoni display maletypical phenotypes, such as aggression and bright coloring, when placed in allfemale communities. These results raise questions about the plasticity of sexspecific behaviors and androgen signaling. Female cichlids were used as a model organism for environmental effects on hormone secretion and sexspecific behavior.To measure the correlation between aggressive female cichlids and testosterone levels, three tanks were prepared representing the control and experimental design. Weekly behavioral observations, which were conducted using an ethogram to measure aggression, were followed by noninvasive hormone watersampling. Male fish were removed from tanks containing 2 or 3 females in the experimental tanks. Hormonal and behavioral measurements were used to compare the behavior of female cichlids before and after being exposed to an allfemale community. Testosterone concentrations for two female fish from each tank over three weeks were measured using an ELISA. Females in allfemale communities had higher overall testosterone levels than females in the control tanks. In one experimental tank, the predicted dominant female showed increased aggression over time after male removal as well as increased coloration and higher testosterone levels. In the second experimental tank, the predicted subordinate female had a significantly higher testosterone concentration although the predicted dominant female, which showed maletypical behavior. Apart from some outliers, the average experimental female testosterone concentration was still much lower than the male average of 73.87 pg/g/hr. These results suggest that androgen levels in females are correlated with their social environment and sexdiscriminated environments may induce dominance in some individuals.

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Dominance and eyebar activation: Can eyebar alterations reverse dominance hierarchies in male A. burtoni cichlids?
Jocelyn Hansson & Lauren Vanderhooft
Dominance hierarchies are well documented in male Astatotilapia burtoni cichlid fish. These hierarchies are signaled externally through eyebar upregulation (dominance) and downregulation (subordination). Eyebar regulation is tightly controlled by internal processes sensitive to social rank, such as sex steroid and gene expression changes, and co-occurs with dominant behaviors. This makes the eyebar a good proxy for determining dominance in this species. Similar rank signals in birds have been experimentally exaggerated, leading to increased aggression and hormonal changes. While no studies have altered cichlid eyebar salience, an extended dominance phenotype, mound size, has been altered in cichlids, resulting in predictable changes in aggression. In the current study, we investigated if darkening the eyebar in subordinate fish would reverse a previously established dominance hierarchy between two male cichlids by measuring eyebar activation and aggression changes pre- and post-eyebar manipulation. After a controlled aggressive encounter, we determined which fish had lower levels of dominance and aggression. Next, we either injected black Visible Implant Elastomer in a strip behind the eyebars of the subordinate fish (experimental condition), poked the subordinate fish eyebars for the same amount of time and in the same locations (positive control), or did not impose any eyebar manipulation (negative control). A second encounter the following day allowed us to redetermine which fish had lower levels of dominance and aggression. We did not observe a dominance hierarchy switch after enhancing the subordinate fish’s eyebars, possibly due to the fish pairs not always having clearly established dominance hierarchies. Future research should replicate this study by only using fish with established social ranks.

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Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Effect of visual predator cues on tadpole growth
Jaelin Cola & Margalit Leiser
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Effect of visual predator cues on tadpole growth
Jaelin Cola & Margalit Leiser (Abstract; Poster)
Previous studies have shown that kairomones, a predator-specific chemical cue, and
alarm cues, a prey-specific chemical cue, work together to signal to a prey that a predator is near
and, thus, induces a prey's anti-predator defenses (Schoppner 2009). Although chemical cues are
important predator signals for prey, little is known about whether or not a visual component has
creates more of an effect of the prey's anti-predator response. In this experiment, we tested the
effect of a visual predation cue on four week old Rana catesbeiana tadpoles using three-spine
sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from the Canyon as predators. To test this, we subjected an
even amount of tadpoles to one of two treatments, Visible and Invisible. For both treatments, a
stickleback was placed in a mesh cage and anchored down in the center of a wading pool. For the
Invisible treatment, a container was placed over the stickleback's mesh cage to eliminate a visual
cue while the mesh cage in the Visible treatment remained uncovered. R.catesbeiana body and
tail length measurements were taken before and after three weeks of treatment. We hypothesized
that tadpoles in the Visual treatment would induce more anti-predator defenses (grow larger)
than those in the Invisible. Our data shows an average increase in tail length for tadpoles
subjected to the Invisible treatment. For average body length, tadpoles in the Invisible tank
experienced no change on average while those in the Visible had an average increase in body
length. Considering kairomones and alarm cues were held constant across treatments, our results
suggest that the presence or lack of a visual predation cue will trigger different anti-predator
defense responses in R.catesbeiana tadpoles.

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ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

In teams of two, students conduced an independent research project for the second half of the semester. The projects were based on ideas generated during the planned labs. Students were open to explore any area of animal behavior using techniques that are available at Reed College. Projects were presented at a "formal" poster session attended by all students and open to the Reed community.

In lab the week after break

Use the Project Management Template to plan your indpendent project.
You must turn this in before you leave lab (hard copy or posted to the server) in addition to a timelin taped to the white board.

Where a grant proposal emphasizes the strengths and feasibility of a project, putting the best spin on everything, a project management plan is meant to help identify potential difficulties before they arrise. As part of the assignment, you will construct ahelpful timeline of work to be done (in project management speak this is called a Ghant Chart).

Abstracts :: due date Dec 9th.

An abstract (~250 word) with a descriptive (fun) title and the authors names.
This should describe:
- the "Big Question"
- the specific area of research
- the general technique or approach applied,
- the major results found and conclusion that can be drawn.
Please post these to the server by 5:00 PM on date:
/reed.edu/courses/Biology/Bio 342 Animal Behavior/IP_Abstracts

Poster Presentation :: Dec 11th

Tips for making and Presenting a Poster template1, template2,

During the poster session, students will be required to visit several posters and to formally evaluate at least two posters using the standard evaluation forms that will be provided in class and handed in at the end of class.

You must also save a copy of your final poster on the server!

Assessment :: Dec 18th

Each student will individually assess his/her own effort and success in relation to the group.
Use this worksheet. Return this to Suzy by email.

Equipment available includes:

temperature controlled incubators
audio recording equipment
video recording equipment
spotting scope
laptop computers for Jwatcher studies
general molecular biology equipment
qPCR machine to quantify gene expression (not covered in class but available for trained students)
anything used during course work
Arrangements can be made for repeated access to the zoo
anti-body staining (please aske we have several antibodies available in lab)
Hormone assays for estradiol, testosterone & cortisol (1 per group)

Appropriate animals include:

Any wild animals easily acccessible for field observations.
Any animals used during previous labs are available.
Any Drosophila mutant or strain availble at the Bloomington Stock Center (needs 3-4 weeks advance notice)
House crickets
Goldfish,
Zebrafish,
Tanganyikan cichlids available in the Renn Lab (Astatotilapia burtioni)
Wild caught sticklebacks from the canyon.

TO BE EVALUATED

General level of engagement throughout the 6 weeks
Poster Presentation and Participation at Poster Session
Lab Notebooks (one per group is sufficient, though individuals must note their own contributions clearly)

Independent projects from 2014

Pleiotropic effects of selection for ethanol sensitivity on aggression in D. melanogaster
- Leah Cepko & Mason Kennon abstract : poster
Student's Choice "Most Heroic Science"

Friend or Foe? Examining Human Influence on Threat Perception and Flight Distance in Urban-Area Ducks
- Jaclyn Calkins & Sam Ramirez abstract : poster

Differences in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) behavior in mating and non--mating situations
- Sofia Claesson & Lia Zallar abstract : poster
Student's Choice "Best Poster"

Which Fish? This Fish. Red Fish or Blue Fish?: Mate choice based on color in fancy guppies (Poecilia reticulata).
- Annelise Hill & Yasemin Lopez abstract : poster

Ethanol Habituation in Drosophila melanogaster
- Timothy Peters & Jesse Duhan abstract : poster

Fight or Feed: food-seeking approach in Juvenile male garter snakes is dependent on body size
- Emily Merfeld & Nicolette Tapia abstract : poster

Lightweight or Party Animal? Sexual Dimorphism of Ethanol Tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster
- Mara Kaiser & Hayley VanderJagt abstract : poster

Canine Compensation: Size Does Matter
- Cecelia Erwin & Orian Evans abstract : poster

Scared Stiff by a Sniff: Behavioral response of Bombina orientalis tadpoles to a predator cue
- Audrey Spaeth abstract : poster

Agression in different environments
- Nick Morales & Patrick Shan abstract : poster

Bundling up for the Winter: Effects of Photoperiod on Thermotolerance and Circadian Rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster
- Krisin Hirata abstract : poster
Student's Choice "Best Science"

Cichlid Aggression Response to Convex and concave Mirrors
- James Fisher-Smith & Mical Yohannes abstract : poster

Saving-Savvy Squirrels
- Kimmie McGowen & Madeline Robin abstract : poster

Mood Lighting: Can Colored Filters Make Male Guppies Sexier?
- Allie Buckner & Karl Menzel abstract : poster

Unken Donuts: Sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic effects on the unken reflex
- Caleb Kalisher, Emma Schweitzer, & Michael Weiss abstract : poster

Abstracts:

Unken Donuts: Sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic effects on the unken reflex
- Caleb Kalisher, Emma Schweitzer, & Michael Weiss
Defensive posture reflexes are observed across a wide variety of reptiles and amphibian species, despite large phylogenetic distance. Spanish Ribbed Newts engage/display an arched posture to emphasize exposure of their ribs, whereas T. granulosa salamanders show their bright red-yellow underside by bending their head and coiled tail backwards. Of particular interest is the Bombina orientalis, which exhibits a specific form of this behavior referred to as the unken reflex. While the general character of this behavior is well known, little research has been conducted investigating how it varies across demographic groups, environments, or its response to captive rearing. Here we examined its stimulation in lab and wild raised animals collected from forest and paddy environments to determine how the robustness of the response varies across these groups. Stimulation of this reflex was done by prodding the frogs' scapular region repeatedly, and the extent of the response was recorded on a predetermined behavioral scale. Our results indicated that female frogs were more likely than male frogs to respond to our stimulation with a "full" unken reflex (p=0.0176). Furthermore, we found that wild raised frogs were more likely than lab raised frogs to respond with at least a partial unken response (p=0.0176). We found no significant difference in response between environments. The results of this study give us more knowledge of the development of this behavior, as frogs raised in different environments behave differently. The difference observed between sexes suggest hormones and morphology may influence this behavior.

Mood Lighting: Can Colored Filters Make Male Guppies Sexier?
- Allie Buckner & Karl Menzel
Is there a way to cosmetically alter a guppy to make it more attractive? Based on previous research on guppy mate choice, we think male guppies behind an orange filter should appear sexier to a female guppy. We presented a female guppy with the option to interact with either a bright orange male or a yellow male separated by clear plastic, and used J Watcher to establish female preference. We then collected data on the proportion of time a female guppy spent with each male if we swapped out one clear filter for a yellow or orange filter. We found that orange filters actually make a guppy less attractive to a female. Additionally in the presence of a yellow filter, the female guppy found the orange guppy less attractive and no change in preference for the non-orange guppy. Our results imply that more orange might not be better for attracting mates. Future research might include determining how long it takes males to learn which side is more attractive to females.

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Saving-Savvy Squirrels
- Kimmie McGowen & Madeline Robin
Eastern fox squirrels forage and cache food for future use. According to a study on squirrel foraging published in the Israeli Journal of Ecology and Evolution, "The value of cacheable food is highest proceeding lean periods.1" Due to the fluctuating value of cacheable food, it is expected that squirrels would spend more time foraging the two weeks after the first frost of autumn, which indicates the coming of winter. We developed a test to see how these foraging habits change as it get closer to winter, which is the time of nut deprivation for squirrels. This test was a month-long longitudinal study of the Eastern fox squirrel population that occupies Reed College's front lawn. Data was collected from 18 individuals beginning at the start of November and continued through the first week of December. We have concluded from our data collected that the amount of time the squirrels invested in foraging for food increased significantly after the first frost of the winter, which happened on November 13th 2014.

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Cichlid Aggression Response to Convex and Concave Mirrors
- James Fisher-Smith & Mical Yohannes
Can concave and convex mirrors be used to simulate another individual of a disproportionate size to induce different aggression responses from cichlids? If so, one could cut down the amount of resources needed while also creating a more controlled environment for future aggression research. Putting a convex mirror in the tank distorted the perception of the cichlid by appearing to have introduced a larger cichlid and the concave simulated introducing a smaller cichlid. To evaluate these methods, we exposed male A. burtoni cichlids to either a concave or convex mirror for 10 minutes and recorded a focal sample with J-Watcher, using an ethogram that accounted for the following measures of aggression: flaring dorsal fins, biting, retreating, and their movements to different parts of the tank. It was assumed that any trend of divergence in these measures demonstrated an appreciable change in aggressive behavior. The mean number of attack on the concave mirror was 1.6, as compared to 0.6 on the convex mirror. When introducing the concave mirror, the cichlids were flaring their dorsal fins 39% of the time compared to 55% in the convex mirror. The cichlids were more likely to attack a larger opponent. One potential explanation is that introducing a larger cichlid may be perceived as more threatening, and may elicit an immediate aggressive response before the intruding cichlid settles in the tank. The next step would be to compare this divergences to those caused by real opponents.

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Bundling up for the Winter: Effects of Photoperiod on Thermotolerance and Circadian Rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster
- Krisin Hirata
Many animals must adjust their behavior according to seasonal changes, yet much remains to be learned about the mechanisms by which they determine the season. This study explored which signals Drosophila melanogaster uses to determine the season. Is a change in the photoperiod sufficient to cause fruit flies to sense that the season has changed? More specifically, the experiment tested whether a shift in the photoperiod causes a change in the circadian rhythm, measured through the expression of a core clock protein, PER, and the thermotolerance of D. melanogaster. It has been previously shown that fruit flies raised under shorter, winter-like photoperiods have significantly shorter chill-coma recovery times and that PER levels peak at dawn during the winter and slightly after dawn during the summer. In the current study, flies were raised under varying photoperiods in a temperature-controlled incubator. Thermotolerance was gauged by placing flies on ice and determining their chill-coma recovery times. PER levels were measured using immunohistochemistry. Flies were collected immediately before "dawn," and their brains were removed. The brains were subsequently stained with a primary anti-PER antibody and a fluorescent secondary antibody and viewed using fluorescence microscopy. The brightness of stained cells was qualitatively assessed. There was no statistically significant effect of photoperiod on chill-coma recovery times. However, flies raised under a winter photoperiod (8 hours light: 16 hours dark) had significantly higher PER levels than flies raised under a summer photoperiod (16 hours light: 8 hours dark). These results suggest that a change in photoperiod is sufficient to cause a shift in the circadian rhythm of D. melanogaster, but not its thermotolerance.

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Agression in different environments
- Nick Morales & Patrick Shan
Astatotilapia burtoni is a species whose males are known for exhibiting unique markings and heightened territorial aggression. Additional research has suggested that aggression in these animals is dependent on their environment. Based on this research, our experiment attempted to identify any correlation between aggression levels of A. burton individuals and the amount of simulated rock debris in their environment. Two pairs of tanks were set up and each pair had a tank that contained either 3 or 25 pottery shards. Seven fish were placed inside of each tank and the fish behavior was observed using a combination of scan and 1/0 sampling. Our findings sort of suggest that fish in tanks with fewer pottery shards have higher aggression levels but it will require further research to account for difference in tank populations.

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Scared Stiff by a Sniff: Behavioral response of Bombina orientalis tadpoles to a predator cue
- Audrey Spaeth
Many prey animals, especially those in aquatic environments, respond to chemical cues released by predators and/or injured conspecifics by modifying their behavior to reduce predation risk. This has been demonstrated in larvae of a number of amphibian species, with lower activity levels assumed to correspond to less detection by predators. However, there is little consensus over where the chemical cue originates. In order to help answer this question in the oriental fire-bellied toad (Bombina orientalis), tadpoles were raised with one of four treatments. These treatments were water exposed to the predatory three-spine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus), water exposed to stickleback feeding on conspecifics, water exposed to crushed conspecifics, or a control. At approximately four weeks of age, the tadpoles were observed and scored for activity over multiple trials. Tadpoles exposed to stickleback feeding on conspecifics displayed significantly lower activity than tadpoles exposed to just stickleback or the control. With the removal of one outlier, tadpoles exposed to crushed conspecifics also had significantly lower activity than the control. This suggests B. orientalis tadpoles modify their behavior in response to chemical cues from conspecifics, but not necessarily from stickleback. Whether they are responding to so-called "alarm cues" released from stressed conspecifics, or "predator cues" from crushed bodies of conspecifics is unknown. B. orientalis may have no innate aversion to stickleback because stickleback may be a non-native predator, or because the tadpoles rely on conspecific chemical cue information exclusively, regardless of the species of predator.

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Canine Compensation: Size Does Matter
- Cecelia Erwin & Orian Evan
Previous research has found that dog behavior is directly influenced by the animal's size (McGreevy et al. 2013). Decreased height and weight is positively correlated with undesirable behavior. However, the previous research did not account for the dog's training: we suspected that this pattern may be due to reduced training for smaller dogs, as undesirable behavior is more likely to be tolerated in smaller animals. To investigate this hypothesis, we observed dog behavior at Woodstock Dog Park over a series of days. Using an ethogram based off undesirable behaviors designated by the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), we observed dogs for 10 minutes and took pictures in order to analyse height using ImageJ. A brief owner survey provided weight, breed and training history. Analysis found that there was a statistically significant negative relationship between both dog weight and height in total undesirable behaviors performed and a statically significant positive relationship between hours of training per week and dog weight and height. Larger dogs performed fewer undesirable behaviors than small dogs and received more hours of training per week. These results confirm our hypothesis and inform our understanding that undesirable behavior in small dogs is not due to morphological differences between small and large dogs, but differences in human management of dogs of different sizes.

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Lightweight or Party Animal? Sexual Dimorphism of Ethanol Tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster
- Mara Kaiser & Hayley VanderJagt
The common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) can use ethanol as a food source. However, they are not impervious to the deleterious effects of ethanol. These effects include the inability to fly correctly, the inability to perch on a vertical surface, and an apparent lack of consciousness. Recent studies have revealed that flies may be sexually dimorphic when it comes to alcohol metabolism (Devineni, 2012). Our experiment was designed to investigate the heritability of ethanol tolerance in D. melanogaster, and whether or not high or low tolerance to ethanol makes the sexually dimorphic response more pronounced. This multi-generational study sought to artificially select D. melanogaster for ethanol tolerance over four generations. Groups of 50 male and female D. melanogaster were introduced into an inebriometer and subjected to ethanol vapor. By the second generation, high tolerance flies exhibited significant sexual dimorphism in ethanol tolerance with respect to time elapsed in the apparatus (p>0.0073), whereas low tolerance flies did not show statistically significant sexual dimorphism in ethanol tolerance with respect to time elapsed (p>0.2522). Although additional generations could not be successfully bred and tested due to an incubator malfunction, our first round of selection alone successfully demonstrated the heritability of ethanol tolerance in D. melanogaster and its correlation with sexual dimorphism.

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Fight or Feed: food-seeking approach in Juvenile male garter snakes is dependent on body size
- Emily Merfeld & Nicolette Tapia
Garter snakes have been shown to aggressively guard limited resources such as preferred food sources, habitat, and mates. Previous studies have also shown that larger males acquire these resources at a higher rate, succeeding in more male-to-male rivalries and producing more offspring via forced insemination. The present study examines the role of body size on acquisition of a limited food resource in male juvenile red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). In five 45 minute sessions with access to ground nightcrawler worms, the latency to approach the feeding dish and the number of fights were recorded for each individual. Results showed that larger individuals had the lowest latency of approach and highest number of fights per trial. This relationship between body size and exploratory / aggressive behavior in situations in which individuals must gain access to a limited resource may be evidence of a sized-based dominance hierarchy in male garter snake populations.

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Ethanol Habituation in Drosophila melanogaster
- Timothy Peters & Jesse Duhan
Drosophila melanogaster are a prominent genetic and behavioral model for human alcohol-related research. We studied whether Drosophila, like humans, exhibit consistent sensitivity and gradual tolerance increases with daily exposure to ethanol. Sexed flies were sorted into tolerance categories based upon time taken to elute from an inebriometer, an ethanol-filled column containing stacked mesh baffles that may be gripped as intoxicated individuals lose their ability to fly. Each of these categories (sensitive [0-6 min.], intermediate [7-20 min.], and resistant [21+ min.]) was then independently re-tested and re-sorted every 24 hrs. to assess drift in sensitivity. Successive tests revealed that sensitive and intermediate male and female groups maintained significantly consistent tolerance, with some evidence of conferred tolerance. This suggests that Drosophila are genetically predisposed to tolerate specific levels of ethanol, and will develop resistance over time.

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Which Fish? This Fish. Red Fish or Blue Fish?: Mate choice based on color in fancy guppies (Poecilia reticulata).
- Annelise Hill & Yasemin Lopez
Do animals prefer to associate and mate with individuals of similar genetic strains and phenotypes? Mate choice is an important field of study within animal behavior. Fancy guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are a popular species of aquarium fish, they are generally easy to keep alive, they reproduce quickly, and the males come in various dramatic bright colors. These traits make guppies a model organism for study. Bright colors, along with size and tail size, have been selectively bred for. Males with unusual traits are bred with females of the same strain to exaggerate these qualities. We look at mate choice through questioning whether female fancy guppies naturally prefer males of their own color or if they prefer males of a different phenotype. We tested the hypothesis that female guppies will choose mates of the same color type. We conducted an experiment in which females, blue and red individuals, were given a choice between a blue male and a red male. We measured the amount of time the females spent next to the blue male, red male, and in the middle of the tank, to measure their preference. Our results showed that our hypothesis that both colors of female prefer mates of their color was incorrect. We did find that red and blue females choose their mates differently. Red females were more likely to choose a male of the same color, while blue females were more likely to choose a male of a different color, albeit less strongly. This could be indicative of either red males being very attractive to females based on color or vibrancy, or of a difference in the way blue and red females choose mates.

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Differences in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) behavior in mating and non--mating situations
- Sofia Claesson & Lia Zallar
Elephants are very social animals, and their group behaviors are complex and varied. Increased knowledge of reproductive behavior is especially important in the context of elephants in zoos, both for animal well--being and species preservation. Through analysis of videos of elephants provided by the Oregon Zoo, this study aimed to investigate how courtship behavior differs from non--reproductive behavior and alters interactions between two elephants, Tusko (male) and Shine (female). The zoo provided an ethogram of group behaviors, which was modified for our purposes. Two observers scored each elephant in the videos and recorded behavior. The frequency of each behavior for each elephant was compared based on whether or not copulation occurred. Our findings indicate that there are trending differences in elephant behavior between reproductive and non--reproductive contexts. For Tusko, this included an increase in initiation of physical contact and aggressive behavior. In contrast, Shine's behavior in most cases was more stable across conditions, with the exception of her response to Tusko's aggressive behavior. For future research the ethogram could be expanded to include a wider scope of aggressive behaviors. This was a preliminary study on behavior, only examining two specific elephants. Further studies could test if these trends are also present in Asian elephants at other zoos or in the wild.

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Friend or Foe? Examining Human Influence on Threat Perception and Flight Distance in Urban-Area Ducks
- Jaclyn Calkins & Sam Ramirez
In urban areas, feeding ducks at local duck ponds is a popular and common pastime. However, throughout most of evolutionary history, living in such close proximity to potential predators such as humans likely posed more of a threat to ducks than is now the case. Since feeding at ponds is now a potentially lucrative food source for ducks, we investigated whether or not urban ducks have evolved the ability to perceive whether or not an approaching human represents a source of food or a possible threat. We measured flight distance (distance at which the birds would flee when approached) in meters in ducks at four different locations under the following conditions: - Food: Being approached by a human holding a visible piece of bread - Threat: Being approached by a human holding an outstretched bath towel We found that there was a significant difference in flight distance between the two conditions (p=<0.0001). In addition, we found that ducks' responses varied between the different populations we visited (p=0.0044). This could mean that some populations were more accustomed to human interaction than others. Although we cannot conclude that this is a recently evolved ability, our data suggests that ducks can detect differences in the intentions of an approaching human.

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Pleiotropic effects of selection for ethanol sensitivity on aggression in D.melanogaster
- Leah Cepko & Mason Kennon
Pleiotropy is known to be an important mechanism by which behavioral traits are regulated and expressed. Quantitative trait loci analysis in Apis mellifera has demonstrated that genes known to contribute to ethanol sensitivity and aggression are closely linked. However, little is known about the potential pleiotropic effects of selection on genes related to alcohol metabolism affecting genes related to aggression. Considerable research has been conducted on the genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying the phenotypic differences between lines artificially selected by different exposure to ethanol of Drosophila melanogaster. No research to date has investigated the potential difference in effect of alcohol consumption between these lines and natural populations on male conspecific aggression. In order to test the potential interaction between ethanol treatment and genotype, we delivered a 6% ethanol solution (with 6% sucrose) to isolated male D. melanogaster individuals and measured the latency of individuals from the same line to engage in aggressive behaviors, as well as the total number of aggressive acts observed in a 3-minute period. The data show a dynamic, involving changes in the correlation between latency to engage and total aggressive acts observed in different conditions, suggesting a pleiotropic mechanism regulating ethanol sensitivity and aggression. This demonstrates that selection on a single trait can result in pleiotropic effects on seemingly unrelated behavioral phenotypes.

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Animal Behavior

Biology 342 Fall 2015