An investigation of kin recognition in Red‐legged frog (Rana aurora) tadpoles

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Abstract
The ability of Red‐legged frog (Rana aurora) tadpoles to discriminate between siblings and non‐siblings was investigated in laboratory choice experiments. Tadpoles that were reared with siblings only and tested in early developmental stages preferentially associated with siblings over non‐siblings. Animals reared with siblings only and tested in later developmental stages did not preferentially associate with siblings over non‐siblings. Test animals that were reared in isolation, those reared with siblings and non‐siblings, or those reared with non‐siblings only, displayed a random association among sibling and non‐sibling stimulus choice groups. These results are compared with results obtained from testing the larvae of a closely related species, the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae).