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Current Herpetology
Abstract
Abstract:
The traits of many animal species exhibit individual and sexual differences. Individuals repeatedly receiving a stimulus without harm become habituated to it. However, few studies have been conducted on individual and sexual differences in the process of habituation to unfamiliar food stimuli. Therefore, we hypothesized that individual differences or sexual differences would be observed in reaction to an in-lab food-stimuli presentation of potential prey items (after that “food stimuli”). We tested the hypothesis using the Japanese tree frog Hyla japonica, and conducted statistical analyses of these results. A generalized linear model (GLM) showed individual and sexual differences in time to get used to the food stimuli. Females habituated more rapidly to food stimuli than males. The difference between sexes is discussed in view of two ultimate and one proximate reasons.
We thank Dr. A. Mori (Kyoto University) for advice on how to distinguish the sex of frogs and Dr. I. Miura (Hiroshima University) for tips on how to breed frogs safely. This work was supported by a grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI 26291091 and 16K14810, 17H05976, and 18H02510 to TM.
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