DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Coercion and Reconciliation in a Socially Monogamous Species

论文研究：社会性一夫一妻制物种中的胁迫与和解--Robert G.Jaeger，Ph.D.Ethan D.Prosen，M.S.本研究项目以红背蜥蜴(Plethodon Cinereus)为模式生物，考察了攻击性对社会性一夫一妻制行为的影响。在实验室研究中，这一地区物种的一些雄性和雌性相对于其他异性个体表现出更倾向于与其伴侣交往(即，在社会上是一夫一妻制的)。这种偏好在其他两栖动物中是未知的。初步证据表明，两性都会直接对与异性交往的伴侣做出攻击性行为(即“反复无常”)。这种愈演愈烈的攻击性，或“性胁迫”，可能是驱使一些人走向社会一夫一妻制的原因。灵长类动物的研究表明，和解或和解行为可以减少经常互动的个体之间的攻击所产生的负面影响。有人呼吁对灵长类以外的动物进行研究，探索和解的可能性。红背火蜥蜴表现出和解的三个最低要求中的两个：长期记忆和个体识别。因此，假设在变化无常的事件之后，伙伴在攻击之后会表现出和解行为。这些实验着眼于恐吓如何塑造红背火蜥蜴的社会行为。这项研究测试了攻击性可以维持社会一夫一妻制伙伴关系的普遍假设。父母投资理论预测，社会上的一夫一妻制是罕见的，特别是当男性没有为后代提供直接资源的时候。由于烘焙红火蜥蜴雄性不为后代提供直接资源，该物种为探索维持社会一夫一妻制提供了理想的环境。此外，在蜥蜴等低等脊椎动物中发现和解的证据，将开辟一个由灵长类研究主导的领域。

Dissertation Research: Coercion and Reconciliation in a Socially Monogamous SpeciesRobert G. Jaeger, Ph. D.Ethan D. Prosen, M.S. This research project examines the effects of aggression on socially monogamous behavior using the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) as a model organism. In laboratory studies, some males and females of this territorial species have shown a preference for associating with their partner relative to other individuals of the opposite sex (i.e., are socially monogamous). This preference is unknown in other amphibians. Preliminary evidence implies that both sexes direct aggressive behavior towards partners that associate with individuals of the opposite sex (i.e., are "fickle"). This increased aggression, or "sexual coercion", may be what drives some individuals toward social monogamy. Primate studies have shown that reconciliation, or making-up behavior, reduces the negative effects that result from aggression between individuals that often interact. There has been a call for research exploring the possibility of reconciliation in animals outside of the primates. Red-backed salamanders exhibit two of the three minimum requirements for reconciliation: long-term memory and individual recognition. Therefore, it is hypothesized that partners will display reconciliation behavior after aggression following a fickle event. These experiments look at how intimidation shapes the social behavior of red-backed salamanders. This research tests the general hypothesis that aggression can maintain socially monogamous partnerships. Parental investment theory predicts social monogamy to be rare, especially when males provide no direct resources to offspring. Because red-baked salamander males provide no direct resources to offspring, this species provides an ideal situation for the exploration of the maintenance of social monogamy. In addition, finding evidence of reconciliation in a lower vertebrate such as salamanders would open up a field dominated by primate studies.