Female seals don’t change their spots, according to a new study by University of Alberta biologists. In fact, individual differences in boldness remain consistent over time. The study is among the first to examine boldness in wild marine mammals in the field of animal personality. Animal personality influences many ecological processes, like how individuals interact with other species or respond to changing environmental conditions.
Researchers studied female seals on Sable Island, home to the world’s largest grey seal colony. Over a period from 2008 to 2016, biologist Christi Bubac and a field team led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada measured boldness responses in the female seals when defending their young.
“During the breeding season, we saw that females tend to behave consistently, not only between years, but also within the lactation period of a given year,” explained Bubac, lead author and PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences studying with wildlife geneticist David Colman. “This provides an example of animal personality, with consistent individual differences observed over time.”
Bubac also examined how reproductive success is related to a seal’s boldness or shyness. Rey seals nurse for 16 to 18 days, so mother seals have a very short window to get baby seals as fat as they can. During this time, baby seals triple in body mass. Body mass is a good predictor of reproductive success because it indicates the puppies’ chances of survival. “On average, we found that bolder females stop feeding those that are two kilograms heavier, compared with the shyest females, improving their chances of surviving the first year of life,” said Bubac.
These results present some very interesting biological questions, explained Coltman, professor of biology. “This research shows that young grey seal moms that are bold tend to stop feeding larger puppies compared with shy moms. However, older grey seals also tend to be bolder. If bolder animals have bigger pups and live longer, why does variation in boldness remain? Why be shy?”
【小题1】What is the purpose of the study of seals?| A．To test their effects on ecological processes. |
| B．To study how seals interact with each other. |
| C．To check how the environment affects mammals. |
| D．To examine marine mammals’ personality difference. |
| A．Animals have remained their personality since they were born. |
| B．Female seals behave more boldly in the lactation period. |
| C．Seals’ boldness responses remain the same over time. |
| D．The study on seals’ personality has been very mature. |
| A．Bolder female seals adjust the nursing time to their babies’ weight. |
| B．Mother seals tend to get babies as slim as possible. |
| C．It usually takes mother seals 20 days to nurse. |
| D．Bolder female seals feed less than shy ones. |
| A．In a travel guide. | B．In a textbook. | C．In a magazine. | D．In an art gallery. |
