DOI: 10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t33
title: Conspecific cues elect distinct behavioural responses in cannibalistic poison frog tadpoles dataset

description: In cannibalistic species, conspecifics can be both predators and prey. As
 a result, conspecifics present a unique conflict at the intersection of
 predation, competition and nutritional resources in these species. To
 better understand how individuals respond to the complex information of
 conspecific chemical cues, we studied aggressive and cannibalistic
 tadpoles of the dyeing poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius. We used a
 standardized open field test to compare behavioural responses to a
 positive cue (food), a negative cue (predator) and two conflicting cues
 (conspecific density and injured conspecifics). We specifically used
 chemical cues to understand how individuals respond in the absence of
 additional information that would disambiguate their status as conspecific
 predator versus prey. We found that the injured conspecific cue elicited a
 response distinct from either the food cue or the predator cue: tadpoles
 explored more relative to baseline and predator cues but spent less time
 moving compared to the food cue. We suggest that these patterns reflect
 cue-dependent behavioural strategies that maximize exploration while
 minimizing detection in the presence of conspecific cannibals. In addition
 to cue-specific changes in behaviour, we observed consistent differences
 in individuals’ behaviour across environments and found that activity and
 exploratory behaviour were positively correlated across environments.
 Taken together, our results demonstrate that conspecific cues are
 interpreted as distinct from either food cues or predator cues in a
 cannibalistic species where they can represent both.
description: # Conspecific cues elect distinct behavioural responses in cannibalistic
 poison frog tadpoles dataset
 This datasheet contains
 raw data associated with Surber et al (2023). An explanation of variable
 is below. Explanation of Variable Names frogID: identification of
 individuals. tank: identification number of individual's home cup.
 clutch: identification of what egg clutch tadpole was from. daysOld: how
 old tadpole was at time of analysis. day: what day of test was trial was
 on because of randomized order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). test: what environmental
 cue type was the test (baseline, injured, density, predator, food).
 camera: four open field tests were run simultaneously and side by side in
 opaque buckets. this variable is the position the arena was in the line of
 buckets. Time: time the trial started. Temperature: arena temperature.
 mobRate: mobility rate; proportion of time spent moving during trial.
 expRate: exploratory rate; proportion of areas explored in arena. Speed:
 average speed (mm/s) across open field. Distance: total distance travelled
 (mm) during open field. timeCenter: total time spent in center of arena
 (s). mobSpeed: average movement speed of individual while moving (mm/s)
 totalLength: total body length of tadpole from tip of head to end of tail
 (mm). Taillength: total length of tail (mm). Mass: mass of individual (g)
 Mom: mother of tadpole (can test for family/genetic effects). Dad: father
 of tadpole (can test for family/genetic effects) (NAs produced from
 uncertainty of which father sired eggs). ## Description of the data and
 file structure This is an excel document. See above section for variable
 descriptions.