Personality traits are expressed in Bullfrog tadpoles during open-field trials

Bradley E. Carlson, Tracy Langkilde

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Variation in personality traits is observed commonly in many taxa but has been rarely studied in amphibians. We tested whether individual Bullfrog tadpoles exhibit personality, behaving consistently across multiple trials, and differently from conspecifics. From video footage of individual tadpoles in a familiar (home) environment and a novel environment (open field), we obtained measures of their level of activity, boldness, and exploration behavior over multiple trials. We found that activity level did not differ consistently between individuals. Boldness was moderately repeatable and exploration highly repeatable within individuals across trials, but only exploration varied significantly among individuals. These findings provide evidence of typical personality traits in tadpoles and support the value of Bullfrog tadpoles as model organisms in personality research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)378-383
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Herpetology
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Animal Science and Zoology

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