Careau V, Thomas D, Humphries MM and Réale D. 2008. Energy metabolism and animal personality. Oikos 117: 641-653. DOI: 10.1111/j.2008.0030-1299.16513.x
If resting metabolic rate is expected to be correlated with animal personality, and there are plenty of empirical examples, why do we (our group) fail to find it? In this review the authors point at several potential causes that may result in biased measures of metabolic rates in the laboratory. They advocate for an integrated study of personality traits and measured metabolism. Animals may show stress by freezing and this may lead to the false impression that the individual is in resting state when it is actually very stressed. The review gives plenty of practical advice and explains very well the functional and evolutionary links between resting metabolic rate and animal personality (i.e. hig- vs low-predation environments).
