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Synopsis For over 30 years, the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, has been an important model system for studying the mechanisms underlying socially mediated behavioral change, with the focus being the dominance behavior of males. A recently collected wild-stock (WS) of this species invigorates interest in parallel studies of females' behavior. Here, we describe a robust 'good-mother' phenotype, increased maternal affiliation in fry, and subtle differences in males' behavior that are exhibited by this new stock. While the females of both the laboratory-stock (LS) and the WS brood the developing fry in their buccal cavity, only the WS continues to provide maternal care after initial release of the fry while the LS engage in filial cannibalism. We show that weight loss during starvation, either during brooding or with restriction of food, is greater in the LS than in the WS; thus, the observed behavioral differences may be tied to metabolic differences. The WS also exhibits a robust androgen response to challenge during the maternal care phase. Given the increasing power of genomic tools available for this species, the comparison of these two stocks will offer the opportunity to investigate the genetic and genomic basis of behavioral differences. doi: 10.1093/icb/icp085

Sixteen domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) were tested in a familiar context in a series of 1-min trials on how well they obeyed after being told by their owner to lie down. Food was used in 1/3 of all trials, and during the trial the owner engaged in 1 of 5 activities. The dogs behaved differently depending on the owner's attention to them. When being watched by the owner, the dogs stayed lying down most often and/or for the longest time compared with when the owner read a book, watched TV, turned his or her back on them, or left the room. These results indicate that the dogs sensed the attentional state of their owners by judging observable behavioral cues such as eye contact and eye, head, and body orientation. Keywords: dog-human relationship, Canis familiaris, attention, social cognition, communication

Research points out that female nest-site philopatry is sex-specific, culturally inherited in reptiles, influenced by environmental sex determination, and exhibits highly female-biased sex rations. Data indicate that these attributes facilitate the maternal manipulation of offspring sex ratios in favor of females.

Analysis of the development of littermate preferences in Belding's ground squirrels, Spermophilus beldingi, reveals that kin favoritism originates from initial social interactions involving littermates and dams. Juveniles exhibit social preferences for littermates immediately after they come out of their natal burrows. They sleep and play with non-littermates less frequently than with their own littermates. There are no littermate preferences in the absence of dams in enclosures.

Individually unique urinary odor cues on the substrate are vital to maintain social associations among social groups of house mice, Mus musculus domesticus. The relatedness characteristic diminishes both these properties by reducing odor cue variations. Kin-based social responses in mice result from the social structure and olfactory communication system of house mice.