Selection for Reduced Fear of Humans Changes Intra-Specific Social Behavior in Red Junglefowl—Implications for Chicken Domestication
AVIAN Behavior Genetics and Physiology Group, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
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Academic Editor: Anna V. Kukekova
Genes 2022, 13(1), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13010043
Received: 9 December 2021
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Revised: 20 December 2021
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Accepted: 21 December 2021
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Published: 24 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Animal Domestication and Breeding)
The domestic fowl has a different social behavior compared to their ancestor, the red junglefowl. To examine whether selection for tameness has affected their intra-specific social behavior, 32 red junglefowl from two selection lines, one selected for increased tameness and one selected for a high fear of humans for ten generations, were kept in a group of two females and two males each and were observed in a semi-natural undisturbed enclosure. Birds selected for a low fear of humans had more social conflict, and the males from this selection crowed more and were more often observed in low social proximity to others. The high-fear birds spent more time close together with the rest of the group and performed more social, non-aggressive pecking. These results are consistent with known differences between ancestral red junglefowl and domesticated laying hens. Our results show that intra-specific social behavior has been affected as a side-effect of selection for increased tameness. This may have interesting implications for the emergence of the domestication syndrome in chickens.
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Keywords:
aggression; tameness; fowl
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gjøen, J.; Jensen, P. Selection for Reduced Fear of Humans Changes Intra-Specific Social Behavior in Red Junglefowl—Implications for Chicken Domestication. Genes 2022, 13, 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13010043
AMA Style
Gjøen J, Jensen P. Selection for Reduced Fear of Humans Changes Intra-Specific Social Behavior in Red Junglefowl—Implications for Chicken Domestication. Genes. 2022; 13(1):43. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13010043
Chicago/Turabian StyleGjøen, Johanna, and Per Jensen. 2022. "Selection for Reduced Fear of Humans Changes Intra-Specific Social Behavior in Red Junglefowl—Implications for Chicken Domestication" Genes 13, no. 1: 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13010043
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