2026-09-22T15:44:04Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/130114 2026-02-10 col_2142_5131 col_2142_14771 com_2142_5130 com_2142_685 com_2142_397

application/pdf en text Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2027-08-01 The student, Samantha Beckfield, accepted the attached license on 2025-06-11 at 18:24. The student, Samantha Beckfield, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2025-06-11 at 18:29. This Thesis was approved for publication on 2025-06-23 at 14:39. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22296 on 2025-10-25 at 15:52:20 Differences in maternal behavior and early life development of silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) selectively bred for tame or aggressive behaviors towards humans Beckfield, Samantha 2025-06-23 Kukekova, Anna Roca, Alfred Condotta, Isabella Postnatal Development Maternal Behavior Canids, Foxes Domestication eng During early life altricial species undergo rapid growth, with parental behaviors playing a pivotal role in shaping offspring behavior and physiology. In domestic dogs, post-natal development has been extensively studied, with differences existing between the behavioral development of dogs and their wild ancestors, wolves. However, tracing the origin of this divergence is difficult as dogs have been selected for countless traits since their domestication began. In contrast, the silver fox, a relative of the domestic dog, was domesticated in a controlled experiment by strictly selecting farm-bred foxes for tame response to humans. To examine whether selection for tameness is linked to changes in early life behavior, we observed nine tame and nine aggressive females and their litters using motion-activated trail cameras from the 24th-40th days of the kits’ lives. The videos were scored for the presence or absence of the mothers and kits in the exterior cage. Ethograms were developed for detailed analysis of their behaviors. We found that aggressive mothers were alone in the exterior cage more often than tame mothers, leaving the kits in the nest box. Conversely, tame kits left the nest box and were more active earlier than aggressive kits. These results demonstrate that selection for tameness has cascading effects on the social behaviors of both mothers and kits, suggesting a common genetic basis for these behaviors. 2025-08 Text https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130114 Copyright 2025 Samantha Beckfield and the Kukekova Lab Animal Sciences Animal Sciences University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign M.S. Thesis