PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #52: Evolutionary Ecology.
Thursday, August 8. Presentation from 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

The effects of experience and heredity on foraging behavior in the red-backed salamander.

Peterson, Megan^*,1,2, Ferguson, Arianne², Lee, Danielle², ¹ Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, AL² University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA

ABSTRACT- Current theory suggests that most animal behaviors are the product of complex interactions between learning and inheritance. Optimal foraging theory predicts that animals should alter their foraging tactics depending on abundance and quality of available prey, and that at least some components of foraging behavior must be heritable. We examined foraging behavior of the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) to test two main hypotheses: that (1) salamanders at each of three age classes (neonates, yearlings, and adults) would increase their foraging efficiency with increasing exposure to novel prey and (2) various foraging parameters would have a genetic component. All age classes showed a significant increase in foraging efficiency after their first exposure to a novel prey type. Significant clutch differences and heritability estimates suggest that some aspects of foraging (e.g., prey recognition and latency to prey capture) may be influenced by genetics. Individuals who captured fewer prey items as neonates were less likely to survive to become yearlings under standardized laboratory conditions. This suggests that genetic variation in foraging efficiency may be directly related to future fitness (i.e., may influence mortality rates). This study indicates that learning, at all ages, plays an important role in successful foraging and that differences in foraging efficiency between individuals may have a genetic component.

KEY WORDS: red-backed salamander, foraging, heritability