Abstract Kin selection theory predicts that individuals should generally behave less aggressively or more amicably towards relatives than nonkin. However, how individuals treat conspecifics depends on genetic relatedness but also on the ecological context, which influences the benefits and costs of their interactions. In this study, we used microsatellite DNA markers and behavioral tests to examine the influence of kinship and proximity on the social behavior of Mongolian gerbils Meriones unguiculatus living in different social groups, and whether these effects varied with sex and season. We recorded the duration of 4 behavioral categories (investigative, neutral, amicable, and agonistic) during a 10-min pairwise test. We found that genetic relatedness had significant effects on the duration of investigative, neutral, and amicable behavior, but not on agonistic behavior. We also found significant interaction effects of relatedness and distance between burrow systems (i.e., spatial distance) on investigative, neutral, and amicable behavior, which suggests that the effects of kinship on social behavior were restricted by spatial proximity. The interaction effect between sex and relatedness on amicable behavior showed that male gerbils became more intimate with individuals of the same sex that had higher pairwise relatedness than females. Furthermore, both male and female gerbils enhanced their aggression during the food-hoarding season, but the intensity of these changes was significantly higher in females. Overall, our results suggest that the effects of kinship and spatial proximity on social behavior exhibit sexual or seasonal patterns, thereby implying ecological context-dependent responses to out-group individuals in Mongolian gerbils.

中文翻译：

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相关性和空间距离调节群际互动：来自社会啮齿动物的实验证据

摘要 亲属选择理论预测，与非亲属相比，个人对亲属的行为通常应该不那么咄咄逼人或更友好。然而，个体如何对待同种个体取决于遗传相关性，也取决于生态环境，这会影响它们相互作用的收益和成本。在这项研究中，我们使用微卫星 DNA 标记和行为测试来检查血缘关系和亲近关系对生活在不同社会群体的蒙古沙鼠 Meriones unguiculatus 社会行为的影响，以及这些影响是否随性别和季节而变化。我们在 10 分钟的配对测试中记录了 4 种行为类别（调查性、中性、友好和激动）的持续时间。我们发现遗传相关性对调查、中立和友好行为的持续时间有显着影响，但不是对抗性行为。我们还发现洞穴系统之间的相关性和距离（即空间距离）对调查、中立和友好行为的显着交互影响，这表明亲属关系对社会行为的影响受到空间接近度的限制。性别和亲缘关系对友好行为的交互作用表明，雄性沙鼠与具有更高成对亲缘关系的同性个体比雌性沙鼠更亲密。此外，雄性和雌性沙鼠在食物囤积季节都增强了它们的攻击性，但这些变化的强度在雌性中明显更高。总体而言，我们的结果表明，亲属关系和空间接近度对社会行为的影响表现出性或季节性模式，