Great tits...

Got your attention, right? Well, the bird at right is Parus major, more commonly known as the great tit. So, what were you expecting? (On a side note - you'd be surprised what you find when you're searching for an image of one of these birds) Anyway, great tits are common woodland birds across much of Europe. They've figured heavily in a number of ecological and evolutionary studies, and a new one is coming out. Researchers at Bavaria's Max Plank Institute of Ornithology have been investigating the tit genome, particularly variation shown in a gene known as dopamine receptor D4, or DRD4. A couple of years ago, they found in laboratory studies that tits possessing a particular allele at this locus were more "curious", i.e., they engaged in more exploratory behaviors. Now, they've extended their study to the field. Examining wild birds collected at a variety of locations across Europe, they assessed whether enhanced exploratory behavior is associated with the same DRD4 variant as was observed in the lab populations. The goal is to determine the universality of the relationship between a variant in DRD4 and this "personality-related behavior".

Interestingly, they found this to be the case in one wild population, but not in three others. This has been the case in other studies examining relations between genetics and personality traits, including studies focused on human behavior. Many studies have identified the relation between the same DRD4 gene and exploratory behavior in humans, only to find dramatic differences between populations; other studies in humans have found no relationship between teh DRD4 gene and curiosity. The authors hope that further examination of the great tit populations might help explain the variation seen in studies with humans.