HERITABILITY AND PHENOTYPIC CORRELATIONS OF BEHAVIOR AND DOMINANCE RANK OF JAPANESE-QUAIL

The frequency and heritability of 13 behavioural acts of hatchling Jap anese quail, Coturnix japonica, were measured in a laboratory experime nt to examine their relationship to juvenile and adult dominance. The heritability of similar acts in adult quail were also quantified to de termine how heritability estimates changed with age. Juvenile dominanc e rank, determined by frequency of winning conflicts, was uncorrelated with the frequency of any hatchling behaviour or hatchling body size but contained significant additive genetic variance in both males and females. Dominance rank in adult females, measured similarly, also had a high heritability estimate. Dominance in adult males, measured as f requency of initiating a fight and frequency of mounting, had only low heritability. Dominance ranking in adults was uncorrelated with the d ominance ranking of juveniles. Dominance may be heritable but may not respond to natural selection because of the interaction between the ge notype and the environment. (C) 1996 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour