Conspecific cues elect distinct behavioural responses in cannibalistic poison frog tadpoles dataset

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 mo..., , , # 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 (...