Data from: A behavioral syndrome of competitiveness in a non-social rodent

Animals compete for limited resources and the outcome of intraspecific
competition should be determined by individual variation in behavioral
traits, such as aggressiveness, and dominance status. Consistent
among-individual differences in behavior likely contribute to
competitiveness and predispose individuals to acquire specific dominance
ranks. In a step towards better understanding these functional links, we
studied trait integration into behavioral syndromes, using 26 captive male
bank voles (Myodes glareolus). We repeatedly assessed boldness in an
emergence test, exploration in an open-field test, aggressiveness in
staged dyadic encounters, and the among-individual correlations between
these behaviors. We further related these personality traits to dominance
rank, from quantifying urine marking value (UMV), as marking in bank voles
is related to dominance rank. We found repeatable variations in boldness,
exploration, aggressiveness, and UMV, which were correlated at the
among-individual level. Aggressiveness tended to be negatively correlated
with body condition, a proxy for fitness. Thus, key personality traits and
social rank are functionally integrated into a behavioral syndrome of
intraspecific competitiveness.