Individual variation in boldness in turtles is consistent across assay conditions and behavioural measures

Abstract

Abstract Temperament traits are often measured under artificial conditions, which may not necessarily predict behaviour in naturalistic contexts. A reliable behavioural assay should yield similar results as tests performed under alternative conditions, but this is not frequently evaluated in free-living animals. Eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina) exhibit individually consistent boldness behaviour in an artificial confinement assay, so we tested turtles repeatedly using the confinement assay along with a simulated predator attack assay. Turtles that were bolder during the confinement assay tended to also be bolder after the simulated predator attack, suggesting temperament is not context-specific. Bolder turtles also employed active defences (e.g., fleeing or biting) more often, demonstrating that different behavioural measures yield similar findings. Boldness in these turtles appears to be a generalized temperament trait, and similar procedures could be used in other species as well to establish the sensitivity of behavioural assessments in the field to assay conditions.