Should I stay or should I go? The influence of temperature and sex on predator-induced responses in newts

0423976 - ÚBO 2014 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Polčák, Daniel - Gvoždík, Lumír
Should I stay or should I go? The influence of temperature and sex on predator-induced responses in newts.
Animal Behaviour. Roč. 89, č. 1 (2014), s. 79-84. ISSN 0003-3472. E-ISSN 1095-8282
R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP506/10/2170
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : defensive behaviour * fight-flight * immobility * locomotor capacity * sexual dimorphism * skin secretion * thermal sensitivity * Triturus
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 3.137, year: 2014

Ectotherms compensate for variation in thermal environments in diverse behavioural ways. Despite widely occurring sex differences in morphology and physiology, the sex-specific thermal sensitivity of behavioural traits has received little attention. We tested the interactive influence of sex and environmental temperature on predator-induced responses in the Alpine newt, Ichthyosaura alpestris. Escape decisions and the duration of flight were less thermally sensitive in females than in males. Males ran more slowly than females. Both sexes required more stimuli at intermediate temperatures than at other temperatures. We conclude that temperature and sex are important determinants of a newt's defensive repertoire. The sex-specific thermal sensitivity of defensive responses suggests both asymmetric selection regimes and an impact of environmental change in newt populations.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0230010