Date: May 3, 2018
Source: Linköping University
Five genes that affect
sociality-related behaviour in chickens have been identified by researchers at
Linköping University in Sweden. Several of the genes have been previously
linked to nervous system function or behaviour. The new study, which is published
in Genetics, is the first that assigns these genes a role in sociality.
Sociality and social behaviour
covers a wide range of behaviours. Dogs seeking human contact and honeybees
using complex waggle dances to exchange information on where to find good food
sources are two examples from the animal world. But what actually governs
social behaviour?
"By identifying the genes
responsible for the variation in such sociality we can understand how sociality
is formed and how social behaviour is controlled at a genetic level. Why some
people or animals are more gregarious by nature and others more independent is
just one such example," says Dominic Wright, senior lecturer at the
Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), who has led the study.
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