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Kern JM, Morris-Drake A, Radford AN. Behavioural, demographic and fitness consequences of social instability in cooperatively breeding dwarf mongoose groups. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230901. [PMID: 37583317 PMCID: PMC10427820 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Social instability frequently arises in group-living species, but the potential costs have rarely been investigated in free-living cooperative breeders, especially across different timeframes. Using natural observations, body mass measurements and life-history data from dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula), we determined the short- and long-term consequences of a change in one of the dominant breeding pairs. We found that a new breeder led to alterations in both collective and individual behaviours (i.e. increases in communal scent-marking, engagement in intergroup interactions, sentinel activity and within-group grooming), as well as reduced body mass gain, further demographic changes and decreased reproductive success (i.e. fewer pups surviving to adulthood). The effects were particularly apparent when it was the female breeder who changed; new female breeders were younger than more experienced counterparts. Our findings support the idea that stability and cooperation are strongly linked and provide potential reasons for previously documented health and fitness benefits of social stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie M. Kern
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale 2351, NSW, Australia
| | - Amy Morris-Drake
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Andrew N. Radford
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
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2
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Maldonado‐Chaparro AA, Chaverri G. Why do animal groups matter for conservation and management? CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
| | - Gloriana Chaverri
- Sede del Sur, Universidad de Costa Rica Golfito Costa Rica
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancón Panama
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3
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Ebensperger LA, Gómez C, Aspillaga-Cid A, León C, Ramírez-Estrada J, Correa LA, Vera DC, Abades S, Hayes LD. Socially unstable conditions experienced during development prime female Octodon degus to shape the phenotype of their own offspring. Horm Behav 2021; 134:105011. [PMID: 34130042 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.105011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 05/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Because residents and immigrants from group living species may experience fitness costs associated with permanent changes in group membership, we examined the hypothesis that females experiencing socially unstable or socially stable conditions during development compensate these costs by shaping the phenotype of their own offspring differently. Groups of adult females experiencing either socially stable or unstable conditions in the early social environment were assigned to either socially stable or unstable conditions in the social environment as adults. We quantified affiliative and agonistic interactions among the females during pregnancy and lactation of the focal female, maternal and allomaternal care, hypothalamic-anterior pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) acute stress response, and early offspring growth. Social instability during breeding enhanced agonistic interactions among adult females, and offspring that experienced socially unstable conditions exhibited enhanced offspring care, regardless of adult environments. Neither social behavior, offspring care, acute stress physiology, nor early growth was influenced by early or adult social stability conditions. These findings imply that socially unstable conditions prime developing females to shape the phenotype of their offspring to prevent negative effects of socially unstable environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis A Ebensperger
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Celeste Gómez
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Antonia Aspillaga-Cid
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Cecilia León
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan Ramírez-Estrada
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Loreto A Correa
- Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Camino la Pirámide 5750, Huechuraba, Santiago, Chile
| | - Daniela C Vera
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sebastian Abades
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Facultad de Estudios Interdisciplinarios, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide 5750, Huechuraba, Santiago, Chile
| | - Loren D Hayes
- Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA
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4
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Taxonomic revision of the populations assigned to Octodon degus (Hystricomorpha: Octodontidae): With the designation of a neotype for Sciurus degus G. I. Molina, 1782 and the description of a new subspecies. ZOOL ANZ 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcz.2021.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Cadenillas R, D'Elía G. The number of species of degus (genus Octodon) is currently underestimated: An appraisal of species limits and their phylogenetic relationships (Rodentia: Hystricomorpha: Octodontidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 159:107111. [PMID: 33607277 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
As currently understood, the genus Octodon contains five species degus, lunatus, bridgesii, pacificus, and ricardojeda. Previous phylogenetic studies suggest that genus specific diversity is underestimated. In order to evaluate the taxonomic diversity of Octodon, we implemented unilocus (cytochrome-b) and multilocus (cytochrome-b + 4 nuclear genes) species delimitation methods. Octodon degus was recovered as a sister of the other species of the genus. The unilocus bGMYC and mPTP methods, based on cytochrome-b sequences, delimits 11 and 7 candidate species respectively, and both methods fail to recognize O. pacificus from O. ricardojeda. Results of the multilocus analysis (BPP) vary as a function of the dataset used. When the five genes are used 11 species are delimited, while eight species are delimited when only the nuclear genes are used. Octodon bridgesii is shown as comprising at least two species (one on the Pacific coast and the typical form found on the Andean slopes), while O. ricardojeda may comprise two species (one on the Chilean side of the Andes and the other in Argentina). Likewise, both multilocus matrices recover O. pacificus as a distinct species. This shows that species diversity of Octodon is underestimated. Remarkably, many of the delimited species based on genetic data are morphologically differentiated in cranio-dental characteristics. However, a pair of species has not achieved morphological differentiation, being cryptic species. Finally, the incongruence between mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies suggests that processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and/or introgression have been present during the radiation of the genus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Cadenillas
- Doctorado en Ciencias, Mención Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja s/n, Valdivia 5090000, Chile; Instituto de Paleontología, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura 20002, Peru.
| | - Guillermo D'Elía
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja s/n, Valdivia 5090000, Chile.
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6
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Bond ML, König B, Lee DE, Ozgul A, Farine DR. Proximity to humans affects local social structure in a giraffe metapopulation. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:212-221. [PMID: 32515083 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Experimental laboratory evidence suggests that animals with disrupted social systems express weakened relationship strengths and have more exclusive social associations, and that these changes have functional consequences. A key question is whether anthropogenic pressures have a similar impact on the social structure of wild animal communities. We addressed this question by constructing a social network from 6 years of systematically collected photographic capture-recapture data spanning 1,139 individual adult female Masai giraffes inhabiting a large, unfenced, heterogeneous landscape in northern Tanzania. We then used the social network to identify distinct social communities, and tested whether social or anthropogenic and other environmental factors predicted differences in social structure among these communities. We reveal that giraffes have a multilevel social structure. Local preferences in associations among individuals scale up to a number of distinct, but spatially overlapping, social communities, that can be viewed as a large interconnected metapopulation. We then find that communities that are closer to traditional compounds of Indigenous Masai people express weaker relationship strengths and the giraffes in these communities are more exclusive in their associations. The patterns we characterize in response to proximity to humans reflect the predictions of disrupted social systems. Near bomas, fuelwood cutting can reduce food resources, and groups of giraffes are more likely to encounter livestock and humans on foot, thus disrupting the social associations among group members. Our results suggest that human presence could potentially be playing an important role in determining the conservation future of this megaherbivore.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica L Bond
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.,Wild Nature Institute, Concord, NH, USA
| | - Barbara König
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Derek E Lee
- Wild Nature Institute, Concord, NH, USA.,Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Arpat Ozgul
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Damien R Farine
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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7
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Bauer CM, Correa LA, Ebensperger LA, Romero LM. Stress, sleep, and sex: A review of endocrinological research in Octodon degus. Gen Comp Endocrinol 2019; 273:11-19. [PMID: 29545088 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2017] [Revised: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/11/2018] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
The Common Degu (Octodon degus) is a small rodent endemic to central Chile. It has become an important model for comparative vertebrate endocrinology because of several uncommon life-history features - it is diurnal, shows a high degree of sociality, practices plural breeding with multiple females sharing natal burrows, practices communal parental care, and can easily be studied in the laboratory and the field. Many studies have exploited these features to make contributions to comparative endocrinology. This review summarizes contributions in four major areas. First are studies on degu stress responses, focusing on seasonal changes in glucocorticoid (GC) release, impacts of parental care on offspring GC responses, and fitness consequences of individual variations of GC responses. These studies have helped confirm the ecological relevance of stress responses. Second are studies exploring diurnal circadian rhythms of melatonin and sex steroids. These studies have formed important work translating circadian biology from nocturnal laboratory rodents to diurnal humans. Third are studies that exploit the open nature of degu natural habitat, combined with laboratory studies, to explore the impact of testosterone on agonistic behavior. Studies have focused primarily on male:male, female:female, male:female, and parental behaviors. Fourth, are contributions to the study of female masculinization from male siblings in the uterus. These studies have focused on both the behavioral consequences of masculinization and the impact of those behaviors on fitness. Taken together, the studies reviewed here have formed a strong foundation for further studies in the degu so that future studies can address how endocrinological components underlie new mechanistic connections to the ecological effects on behavior and fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn M Bauer
- Biology Department, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, USA.
| | - Loreto A Correa
- Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile; Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Luis A Ebensperger
- Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Maldonado-Chaparro AA, Alarcón-Nieto G, Klarevas-Irby JA, Farine DR. Experimental disturbances reveal group-level costs of social instability. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20181577. [PMID: 30429300 PMCID: PMC6253379 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In group-living species, social stability is an important trait associated with the evolution of complex behaviours such as cooperation. While the drivers of stability in small groups are relatively well studied, little is known about the potential impacts of unstable states on animal societies. Temporary changes in group composition, such as a social group splitting and recombining (i.e. a disturbance event), can result in individuals having to re-establish their social relationships, thus taking time away from other tasks such as foraging or vigilance. Here, we experimentally split socially stable groups of captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), and quantified the effects of repeated disturbance events on (1) group foraging efficiency, and (2) co-feeding associations when subgroups were recombined. We found that the efficiency of groups to deplete a rich, but ephemeral, resource patch decreased after just a single short disturbance event. Automated tracking of individuals showed that repeated disturbances reduced efficiency by causing social relationships to become more differentiated and weaker, resulting in fewer individuals simultaneously accessing the patch. Our experiment highlights how short-term disturbances can severely disrupt social structure and group functionality, revealing potential costs associated with group instability that can have consequences for the evolution of animal societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- A A Maldonado-Chaparro
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - G Alarcón-Nieto
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - J A Klarevas-Irby
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - D R Farine
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
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