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Hopkins WA, Case BF, Groffen J, Brooks GC, Bodinof Jachowski CM, Button ST, Hallagan JJ, O'Brien RSM, Kindsvater HK. Filial Cannibalism Leads to Chronic Nest Failure of Eastern Hellbender Salamanders ( Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). Am Nat 2023; 202:92-106. [PMID: 37384763 DOI: 10.1086/724819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Abstract
AbstractIn species that provide parental care, parents will sometimes cannibalize their own young (i.e., filial cannibalism). Here, we quantified the frequency of whole-clutch filial cannibalism in a species of giant salamander (eastern hellbender; Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) that has experienced precipitous population declines with unknown causes. We used underwater artificial nesting shelters deployed across a gradient of upstream forest cover to assess the fates of 182 nests at 10 sites over 8 years. We found strong evidence that nest failure rates increased at sites with low riparian forest cover in the upstream catchment. At several sites, reproductive failure was 100%, mainly due to cannibalism by the caring male. The high incidence of filial cannibalism at degraded sites was not explained by evolutionary hypotheses for filial cannibalism based on poor adult body condition or low reproductive value of small clutches. Instead, larger clutches at degraded sites were most vulnerable to cannibalism. We hypothesize that high frequencies of filial cannibalism of large clutches in areas with low forest cover could be related to changes in water chemistry or siltation that influence parental physiology or that reduce the viability of eggs. Importantly, our results identify chronic nest failure as a possible mechanism contributing to population declines and observed geriatric age structure in this imperiled species.
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2
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Bose APH. Parent-offspring cannibalism throughout the animal kingdom: a review of adaptive hypotheses. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1868-1885. [PMID: 35748275 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Parents that kill and consume their offspring often appear to be acting against their own reproductive interests. Yet parent-offspring cannibalism is common and taxonomically widespread across the animal kingdom. In this review, I provide an overview of our current understanding of parent-offspring cannibalism, which has seen a proliferation in adaptive hypotheses over the past 20 years for why parents consume their own young. I review over four decades of research into this perplexing behaviour, drawing from work conducted on fishes, reptiles, insects, birds, and mammals among other taxa. Many factors have been hypothesised to explain parent-offspring cannibalism in nature, including poor parental energy reserves, small or large brood sizes, low or uncertain parentage, and high brood densities, and additional factors are still being uncovered. Parent-offspring cannibalism does not appear to have a single predominant explanation; rather, the factor, or set of factors, that govern its expression is largely taxon specific. Parents may either consume all offspring under their care (full-brood cannibalism) or consume a fraction of their offspring (partial brood cannibalism). These forms of cannibalism are thought to provide adaptive benefits to cannibals under a range of circumstances, primarily by allowing parents to allocate parental efforts more optimally - energy from eating (some of) one's current offspring can be redirected to other offspring, or to parental growth, survival, and ultimately to other future reproductive endeavours. Thus, parent-offspring cannibalism is a phenotypically plastic trait that responds to changing environmental, social, and physiological conditions. The expression of parent-offspring cannibalism in any given system is intimately linked to the reproductive value of current young relative to parents' expectations for future reproduction, and also to whether parental care is predominantly depreciable or non-depreciable. Furthermore, parent-offspring cannibalism has the potential to generate conflict between the sexes, and I briefly discuss some consequences of this conflict on patterns of mate choice. Finally, there still remain many aspects of this behaviour where our understanding is poor, and I highlight these topics to help guide future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aneesh P H Bose
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Skogmarksgränd, 90183, Umeå.,Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, University of Konstanz, Universitaetsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitaetsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitaetsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
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Cheng YR, Rubenstein DR, Shen SF. Nest predation predicts infanticide in a cooperatively breeding bird. Biol Lett 2019; 15:20190314. [PMID: 31387470 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In cooperatively breeding species, social conflict is typically assumed to underlie destructive behaviours like infanticide. However, an untested alternative hypothesis in birds is that infanticide in the form of egg tossing may simply be a parental response to partial nest predation representing a life-history trade-off. We examined egg tossing behaviour in the colonial and cooperatively breeding grey-capped social weaver (Pseudonigrita arnaudi), a plural breeder in which pairs nest separately, often in the same tree. Using infrared nest cameras, we found that 78% of the tossing events from 2012 to 2017 were committed by parents, suggesting that social conflict is unlikely to be the main reason underlying egg tossing in this species. Instead, reductions in clutch size due to both natural and experimentally simulated predation induced parental egg tossing. Our study suggests that destructive behaviour in cooperatively breeding birds can be shaped by a variety of mechanisms beyond social conflict and that alternative hypotheses must be considered when studying the adaptive significance of infanticide in group-living species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Ru Cheng
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115 Taiwan, Republic of China.,Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Dustin R Rubenstein
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Sheng-Feng Shen
- Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, 115 Taiwan, Republic of China
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Unger SD, Williams RN. Genetic confirmation of filial cannibalism in North America’s giant salamander, the Eastern hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2017.1342696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Shem D. Unger
- Biology Department, Wingate University, Wingate, NC 28174, USA (E-mail: )
| | - Rod N. Williams
- Department of Forestry & Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
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Lehtonen TK, Vesakoski O, Yli-Rosti J, Saarinen A, Lindström K. The impact of an invasive mud crab on brood success of nest-building fish in the Northern Baltic Sea. Biol Invasions 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-017-1605-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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6
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Deal ND, Lehtonen TK, Lindström K, Wong BB. Paternal investment with an uncertain future: effects of predator exposure on filial cannibalism and nesting behaviour. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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8
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Lehtonen TK, Lindström K, Wong BBM. Body size mediates social and environmental effects on nest building behaviour in a fish with paternal care. Oecologia 2015; 178:699-706. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3264-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2014] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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9
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Infections may select for filial cannibalism by impacting egg survival in interactions with water salinity and egg density. Oecologia 2015; 178:673-83. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-015-3246-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2014] [Accepted: 01/19/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Skrypzeck H, Salvanes AGV, Currie B, Kotze A. First records of reproductive behaviour and early development of the bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2014; 84:1256-1261. [PMID: 24646058 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2013] [Accepted: 01/10/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Data on developmental characteristics from fertilization to 2 days post-hatching during captivity of the anoxia tolerant bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus, one of the keystone prey species for many of the commercial fish populations, sea mammals and birds in south-west Africa, are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Skrypzeck
- National Marine and Information Research Centre, Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, P. O. Box 912, Swakopmund, Namibia
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12
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Law YH, Rosenheim JA. Presence of conspecific females motivates egg cannibalism owing to lower risk of filial cannibalism. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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13
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Segers FHID, Gerber B, Taborsky B. Do maternal food deprivation and offspring predator cues interactively affect maternal effort in fish? Ethology 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.01922.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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14
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Maternal nest defense reduces egg cannibalism by conspecific females in the maritime earwig Anisolabis maritima. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1196-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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15
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Bonsall MB, Klug H. Effects of among-offspring relatedness on the origins and evolution of parental care and filial cannibalism. J Evol Biol 2011; 24:1335-50. [PMID: 21507115 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02269.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Parental care is expected to increase the likelihood of offspring survival at the cost of investment in future reproductive success. However, alternative parental behaviours, such as filial cannibalism, can decrease current reproductive success and consequently individual fitness. We evaluate the role of among-offspring relatedness on the evolution of parental care and filial cannibalism. Building on our previous work, we show how the evolution of care is influenced by the effect of among-offspring relatedness on both the strength of competition and filial cannibalism. When there is a positive relationship between among-offspring competition and relatedness, parental care will be favoured when among-offspring relatedness is relatively low, and the maintenance of both care and no-care strategies is expected. If the relationship between among-offspring competition and relatedness is negative, parental care is most strongly favoured when broods contain highly related offspring. Further, we highlight the range of conditions over which the level of this among-offspring relatedness can affect the co-occurrence of different care/no care and cannibalism/no cannibalism strategies. Coexistence of multiple strategies is independent of the effects of among-offspring relatedness on cannibalism but more likely when among-offspring relatedness and competition are positively associated.
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Affiliation(s)
- M B Bonsall
- Mathematical Ecology Research Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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Welsh DP, Fuller RC. Where to place your eggs: the effects of conspecific eggs and water depth on oviposition decisions in bluefin killifish. J Zool (1987) 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00793.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- D. P. Welsh
- Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - R. C. Fuller
- Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
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Mehlis M, Bakker TCM, Engqvist L, Frommen JG. To eat or not to eat: egg-based assessment of paternity triggers fine-tuned decisions about filial cannibalism. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 277:2627-35. [PMID: 20410042 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Filial cannibalism occurs in many animal species ranging from insects to mammals, and is especially well described in teleost fishes. Numerous causes may lead to this behaviour, e.g. certainty of paternity. However, the cues males use to assess their paternity often remain unknown. One possible way to differentiate between own and foreign offspring is by using egg cues. Nevertheless, in egg-laying species, evidence for this is still scarce. In this study, male three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a fish with paternal care in which sneaking as well as filial cannibalism is common, were allowed to care for manipulated nests that contained different percentages of own fertilized eggs. After 7 days, embryo survival was determined. Furthermore, brood-caring as well as aggressive behaviour was measured daily. Clutches containing a higher proportion of foreign eggs were more likely to be completely cannibalized than clutches containing a lower proportion of foreign eggs, particularly when the clutch was laid early in the breeding season. However, the behavioural observations revealed no influence of paternity. The results show that paternity triggers filial cannibalism in sticklebacks and that males are able to evaluate their paternity using egg cues alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Mehlis
- Institute for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Bonn, An der Immenburg 1, 53121 Bonn, Germany.
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