Behavioural correlations of the domestication syndrome are decoupled in modern dog breeds

Christina Hansen Wheat (), John L. Fitzpatrick, Björn Rogell and Hans Temrin
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Christina Hansen Wheat: Stockholm University
John L. Fitzpatrick: Stockholm University
Björn Rogell: Stockholm University
Hans Temrin: Stockholm University

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Domestication is hypothesized to drive correlated responses in animal morphology, physiology and behaviour, a phenomenon known as the domestication syndrome. However, we currently lack quantitative confirmation that suites of behaviours are correlated during domestication. Here we evaluate the strength and direction of behavioural correlations among key prosocial (sociability, playfulness) and reactive (fearfulness, aggression) behaviours implicated in the domestication syndrome in 76,158 dogs representing 78 registered breeds. Consistent with the domestication syndrome hypothesis, behavioural correlations within prosocial and reactive categories demonstrated the expected direction-specificity across dogs. However, correlational strength varied between dog breeds representing early (ancient) and late (modern) stages of domestication, with ancient breeds exhibiting exaggerated correlations compared to modern breeds across prosocial and reactive behaviours. Our results suggest that suites of correlated behaviours have been temporally decoupled during dog domestication and that recent shifts in selection pressures in modern dog breeds affect the expression of domestication-related behaviours independently.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10426-3

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