In accordance with a recent study done by a Quebec research team, there exist strong correlations between dog breeds’ distinctive characteristics, the period they live and the quantity of food that they eat.
Human beings have, through domestication, unintentionally set off a fake selection experiment regarding personality. It is a known fact that breeders chose individual dogs for the purpose of reproduction that was based not merely on physical appearance but as well on behavioural traits – like aggressiveness, activity and docility – in order to shape each type of breed to a particular task. As a consequence, a number of breeds outshine in tracking while others do extremely well in fighting, guarding, herding or human companionship.
Other traits like energy expenditure or longevity were most probably not targeted for selection. Therefore the correlations that have been obtained imply that the metabolism and lifespan altered as derivatives of selection on personality traits. These links between metabolism, behaviour and longevity characterises to a great extent what is forecasted by the “pace-of-life” syndrome hypothesis.
Vincent Careau, PhD student of the University of Sherbrooke, led a team that collected data on various aspects of dog biology that have been published in different fields of study like longevity, psychology and veterinary research. Even though the information was familiar in each of the research domain, still they were never assembled together. By accomplishing this, the various authors have shown that obedien breeds – on average – tend to live longer than breeds that are disobedient.
They also demonstrated that breeds that are aggressive have higher energy expenditure. According to the late Don Thomas, it is difficult to imagine how a breed with an aggressive personality would be able to adapt if it lacked the energetic and metabolic machinery that is needed to back up the threats. In simple terms, a 100 pound weakling would find it hard to kick sand in the faces of weight-lifters and still survive in nature.
This study makes a contribution to the body of research that is in rise revealing that personality is linked to several vital aspects of animals’ lives – like their needs in terms of energy, rate of growth, age of first reproduction and their lifespan – and brings us a step nearer to comprehending the evolutionary reasons and consequences of varied types of personality. This research suggests that there may exist fundamental genetic connections between metabolism, personality and longevity – implying that the selection for personality traits also brings into play unplanned consequences on energetic and life history traits.
Source: Eurekalert
Tue, Jun 1, 2010
Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle, Longevity