Juvenile T. townsendii were tested at 55-62 days of
age to determine whether 1) they could distinguish kin from
non-kin and 2) whether this ability was based on
familiarity or on genetic relatedness. Seventy-three pups
were observed in 68 pairwise tests. The frequencies and
durations of 8 behaviors as well...
To assess the context dependence of kin discriminating
behavior, I examined kin-biased aggregation behavior in tadpoles
of R. cascadae in different ecological conditions. I manipulated food
distribution, predator presence, thermal heterogeneity, and
relatedness in a multifactorial mesocosm experiment. All four
factors interacted to influence tadpole dispersion. My results
suggest that...