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The genetical determination of behaviour
THE
BRITISH
JOURNAL
OF
ANIMAL
BEHAVIOUR
T H E GENETICAL D E T E R M I N A T I O N OF BEHAVIOUR By J. B. S. H A L D A N E University College, London The behaviour of Drosophila females can rapidly be changed by selection. Rendel produced a stock of normal females which accepted yellow males, and Koopman produced a stock of D. persimilis females which repelled D. pseudoobscura males, whereas the original stock accepted them. The nature of the signals, and the bearing of these results on current theories of behaviour, were discussed.
The paper was mainly devoted to the work of Rendel (1945) and Koopman (1950) on Drosophilia species and of Sheppard (1954) on the moth Panaxia dominula, with an account of some unpublished observations by Hollingsworth in my own laboratory. Each of two gene differences analysed (normal vs. yellow in Drosophila and normal vs. bimaculata in Panaxia affected both sexes. Normal females are much less prone to mate with yellow males than with normal males, which yellow females show no preference. And matings between members of different genotypes of Panaxia are more frequent than between those of the same genotype.
REFERENCES Koopman, K. F. (1950). Evolution, 4, 135 Rendel, J, M. (1945). J. Genet., 46, 387. Sheppard, P. (1954), In "Evolution as a Process". I,ondom
" B E H A V I O U R " MUTANTS IN T H E M O U S E By HANS GRI~INEBERG
University College, London labyrinth (absence or reduction of semicircular canals, cyst formations etc.) which arise early in embryonic life when the labyrinth is first formed. In the mutant pallid, minor postural anomalies are associated with absence of otoliths. There also exists a large group of neurological mutants with a variety of neurological symptoms; these include the genes for jittery, wobbly, wabbler-lethal, Trembler, reeler, dilute-lethal, tremor, agitans, vacillans and many others; in the majority of them the anatomical substrate of the abnormal behaviour is not yet known. The behaviour of some of these mutants was illustrated by living material and a film produced by D. S. Falconer (Edinburgh).
The author gave a brief description of the behaviour of a group of mutant characters in the house mouse with structural anomalies of the labyrinth. All these mutants show a characteristic triad of symptoms consisting of circular movements, head tossing and deafness (except the mutant fidget which can hear); most of them also cannot swim. In five mutants of this group (waltzer, shaker-l, shaker-2, jerker and Varitintwaddler), the gross structure of the labyrinth is normal; degenerative processes in the neuroepithelia and ganglia of the labyrinth take place early or late in post-natal life. In another group of such mutants (shaker-short, kreisler, dreher, fidget) there are various gross anomalies of the
118
BRITISH
JOURNAL
OF
ANIMAL
BEHAVIOUR
T H E GENETICAL D E T E R M I N A T I O N OF BEHAVIOUR By J. B. S. H A L D A N E University College, London The behaviour of Drosophila females can rapidly be changed by selection. Rendel produced a stock of normal females which accepted yellow males, and Koopman produced a stock of D. persimilis females which repelled D. pseudoobscura males, whereas the original stock accepted them. The nature of the signals, and the bearing of these results on current theories of behaviour, were discussed.
The paper was mainly devoted to the work of Rendel (1945) and Koopman (1950) on Drosophilia species and of Sheppard (1954) on the moth Panaxia dominula, with an account of some unpublished observations by Hollingsworth in my own laboratory. Each of two gene differences analysed (normal vs. yellow in Drosophila and normal vs. bimaculata in Panaxia affected both sexes. Normal females are much less prone to mate with yellow males than with normal males, which yellow females show no preference. And matings between members of different genotypes of Panaxia are more frequent than between those of the same genotype.
REFERENCES Koopman, K. F. (1950). Evolution, 4, 135 Rendel, J, M. (1945). J. Genet., 46, 387. Sheppard, P. (1954), In "Evolution as a Process". I,ondom
" B E H A V I O U R " MUTANTS IN T H E M O U S E By HANS GRI~INEBERG
University College, London labyrinth (absence or reduction of semicircular canals, cyst formations etc.) which arise early in embryonic life when the labyrinth is first formed. In the mutant pallid, minor postural anomalies are associated with absence of otoliths. There also exists a large group of neurological mutants with a variety of neurological symptoms; these include the genes for jittery, wobbly, wabbler-lethal, Trembler, reeler, dilute-lethal, tremor, agitans, vacillans and many others; in the majority of them the anatomical substrate of the abnormal behaviour is not yet known. The behaviour of some of these mutants was illustrated by living material and a film produced by D. S. Falconer (Edinburgh).
The author gave a brief description of the behaviour of a group of mutant characters in the house mouse with structural anomalies of the labyrinth. All these mutants show a characteristic triad of symptoms consisting of circular movements, head tossing and deafness (except the mutant fidget which can hear); most of them also cannot swim. In five mutants of this group (waltzer, shaker-l, shaker-2, jerker and Varitintwaddler), the gross structure of the labyrinth is normal; degenerative processes in the neuroepithelia and ganglia of the labyrinth take place early or late in post-natal life. In another group of such mutants (shaker-short, kreisler, dreher, fidget) there are various gross anomalies of the
118