Breed differences of heritable behaviour traits in cats - PubMed (original) (raw)

Breed differences of heritable behaviour traits in cats

Milla Salonen et al. Sci Rep. 2019.

Abstract

Cat domestication and selective breeding have resulted in tens of breeds with major morphological differences. These breeds may also show distinctive behaviour differences; which, however, have been poorly studied. To improve the understanding of feline behaviour, we examined whether behavioural differences exist among cat breeds and whether behaviour is heritable. For these aims, we utilized our extensive health and behaviour questionnaire directed to cat owners and collected a survey data of 5726 cats. Firstly, for studying breed differences, we utilized logistic regression models with multiple environmental factors and discovered behaviour differences in 19 breeds and breed groups in ten different behaviour traits. Secondly, the studied cat breeds grouped into four clusters, with the Turkish Van and Angora cats alone forming one of them. These findings indicate that cat breeds have diverged not only morphologically but also behaviourally. Thirdly, we estimated heritability in three breeds and obtained moderate heritability estimates in seven studied traits, varying from 0.4 to 0.53, as well as phenotypic and genetic correlations for several trait pairs. Our results show that it is possible to partition the observed variation in behaviour traits into genetic and environmental components, and that substantial genetic variation exists within breed populations.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Breed differences in social behaviour in logistic regression analyses. The letterings indicate groups (false discovery rate corrected P > 0.5 between breeds within the same group) that significantly differ (FDR corrected P < 0.05 between breeds in different groups) from other breed groups. Turkish Van cats were the most aggressive towards family members (a), strangers (b), and other cats (c). Russian Blue cats had the highest probability for shyness towards strangers (d), and British Shorthair cats had the highest probability for decreased contact to people (e). Error bars indicate 95% confidence limits. N = 5726. ABY = Abyssinian, Somali, and Ocicat, BEN = Bengal, BRI = British Shorthair, BUR = Burmese and Burmilla, CRX = Cornish Rex, DRX = Devon Rex, EUR = European Shorthair, HCS = house cat, KOR = Korat, MCO = Maine Coon, NFO = Norwegian Forest Cat, ORI = Balinese, Oriental Longhair, Oriental Shorthair, Seychellois Longhair, Seychellois Shorthair, and Siamese, PER = Persian and Exotic, RAG = Ragdoll, RUS = Russian Blue, SBI = Saint Birman, SIB = Siberian and Neva Masquerade, TUV = Turkish Van and Angora. Odds ratios, their confidence limits, and P-values shown in Supplementary Tables S2–S5 and S7.

Figure 2

Figure 2

Breed differences in non-social behaviour in logistic regression analyses. The letterings indicate groups (false discovery rate corrected P > 0.5 between breeds within the same group) that significantly differ (FDR corrected P < 0.05 between breeds in different groups) from other breed groups. Cornish Rex cats, Korats, and Bengals had the highest probability for high activity level (a). Russian Blue cats had the highest probability for shyness towards strangers (b). House cats, Norwegian Forest Cats, Turkish Vans and Maine Coons had the highest probability for wool sucking (c), and Burmese and Oriental cats were the most likely to groom excessively (d). Oriental and Persian cats were most likely to display an owner-evaluated behaviour problem (e). Error bars indicate 95% confidence limits. N = 4925 (wool sucking), N = 5683 (excessive grooming), N = 5550 (owner-evaluated behaviour problem), and N = 5726 (rest). ABY = Abyssinian, Somali, and Ocicat, BEN = Bengal, BRI = British Shorthair, BUR = Burmese and Burmilla, CRX = Cornish Rex, DRX = Devon Rex, EUR = European Shorthair, HCS = house cat, KOR = Korat, MCO = Maine Coon, NFO = Norwegian Forest Cat, ORI = Balinese, Oriental Longhair, Oriental Shorthair, Seychellois Longhair, Seychellois Shorthair, and Siamese, PER = Persian and Exotic, RAG = Ragdoll, RUS = Russian Blue, SBI = Saint Birman, SIB = Siberian and Neva Masquerade, TUV = Turkish Van and Angora. Odds ratios, their confidence limits, and P-values shown in Supplementary Tables S1, S6 and S8–S10.

Figure 3

Figure 3

Dendrogram of cat personality traits. Hierarchical cluster analysis grouped cat breeds into four behaviourally distinct clusters. ABY = Abyssinian, Somali, and Ocicat, BEN = Bengal, BRI = British Shorthair, BUR = Burmese and Burmilla, CRX = Cornish Rex, DRX = Devon Rex, EUR = European Shorthair, KOR = Korat, MCO = Maine Coon, NFO = Norwegian Forest Cat, ORI = Balinese, Oriental Longhair, Oriental Shorthair, Seychellois Longhair, Seychellois Shorthair, Siamese, PER = Persian and Exotic, RAG = Ragdoll, RUS = Russian Blue, SBI = Saint Birman, SIB = Siberian and Neva Masquerade, TUV = Turkish Van and Angora.

Figure 4

Figure 4

Genetic (below diagonal) and phenotypic (above diagonal) correlation estimates for behaviour traits in Ragdoll, Maine Coon, and Turkish Van cats. Coloured cells indicate correlations that are significantly (HPD interval not including 0) positive (green) or negative (red). The estimates and HDP intervals are shown in Supplementary Tables S11–S13.

References

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