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Shelafoe C, Thompson FJ, Mwanguhya F, Kyabulima S, Businge R, Mwesige K, Sanderson JL, Cant MA, Marshall HH, Vitikainen EIK. Caregiver's cognitive traits are associated with pup fitness in a cooperatively breeding mammal. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17713. [PMID: 37853079 PMCID: PMC10584902 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44950-6] [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: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies across diverse taxa have revealed the importance of early life environment and parenting on characteristics later in life. While some have shown how early life experiences can impact cognitive abilities, very few have turned this around and looked at how the cognitive skills of parents or other carers during early life affect the fitness of young. In this study, we investigate how the characteristics of carers may affect proxies of fitness of pups in the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). We gave adult mongooses a spatial memory test and compared the results to the success of the pups those individuals cared for. Our results show a tradeoff between speed and accuracy in the spatial memory task, with those individuals which were faster to move between cups in the test arena making more erroneous re-visits to cups that they had already checked for food. Furthermore, the accuracy of their carer predicted future survival, but not weight gain of the pups and the effect was contrary to expected, with pups that were cared for by less accurate individuals being more likely to survive to adulthood. Our research also provides evidence that while younger carers were less accurate during the test, the age of the carer did not have an impact on the chance of raising young that live to sexual maturity. Our findings suggest that banded mongoose carers' cognitive traits have fitness consequences for the young they care for, affecting the chance that these young live to maturity.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Shelafoe
- Centre for Research in Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour, University of Roehampton, London, SW15 5PJ, UK.
| | - F J Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - F Mwanguhya
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO box 66, Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - S Kyabulima
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO box 66, Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - R Businge
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO box 66, Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - K Mwesige
- Banded Mongoose Research Project, Queen Elizabeth National Park, PO box 66, Lake Katwe, Kasese District, Uganda
| | - J L Sanderson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - M A Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - H H Marshall
- Centre for Research in Ecology, Evolution, and Behaviour, University of Roehampton, London, SW15 5PJ, UK
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
- Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Cambridge, UK
| | - E I K Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK.
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, University of Helsinki, PO Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
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A veil of ignorance can promote fairness in a mammal society. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3717. [PMID: 34162841 PMCID: PMC8222408 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23910-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Rawls argued that fairness in human societies can be achieved if decisions about the distribution of societal rewards are made from behind a veil of ignorance, which obscures the personal gains that result. Whether ignorance promotes fairness in animal societies, that is, the distribution of resources to reduce inequality, is unknown. Here we show experimentally that cooperatively breeding banded mongooses, acting from behind a veil of ignorance over kinship, allocate postnatal care in a way that reduces inequality among offspring, in the manner predicted by a Rawlsian model of cooperation. In this society synchronized reproduction leaves adults in a group ignorant of the individual parentage of their communal young. We provisioned half of the mothers in each mongoose group during pregnancy, leaving the other half as matched controls, thus increasing inequality among mothers and increasing the amount of variation in offspring birth weight in communal litters. After birth, fed mothers provided extra care to the offspring of unfed mothers, not their own young, which levelled up initial size inequalities among the offspring and equalized their survival to adulthood. Our findings suggest that a classic idea of moral philosophy also applies to the evolution of cooperation in biological systems. Obscuring knowledge of personal gains from individuals can theoretically maintain fairness in a cooperative group. Experiments show that wild, cooperatively breeding banded mongooses uncertain of kinship allocate postnatal care in a way that reduces inequality among offspring, suggesting a classic idea of moral philosophy can apply in biological systems.
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Wells DA, Cant MA, Hoffman JI, Nichols HJ. Inbreeding depresses altruism in a cooperative society. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:1460-1467. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Revised: 03/13/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David A. Wells
- Department of Animal Behaviour University of Bielefeld Postfach 100131 Bielefeld33501Germany
- School of Natural Science and Psychology Liverpool John Moores University LiverpoolL3 3AFUK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter PenrynTR10 9FEUK
| | - Joseph I. Hoffman
- Department of Animal Behaviour University of Bielefeld Postfach 100131 Bielefeld33501Germany
- British Antarctic Survey High Cross, Madingley Road CambridgeCB3 OETUnited Kingdom
| | - Hazel J. Nichols
- Department of Animal Behaviour University of Bielefeld Postfach 100131 Bielefeld33501Germany
- Department of Biosciences Swansea University SwanseaSA2 8PPUK
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Vitikainen EIK, Thompson FJ, Marshall HH, Cant MA. Live long and prosper: durable benefits of early-life care in banded mongooses. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180114. [PMID: 30966878 PMCID: PMC6460079 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Kin selection theory defines the conditions for which altruism or 'helping' can be favoured by natural selection. Tests of this theory in cooperatively breeding animals have focused on the short-term benefits to the recipients of help, such as improved growth or survival to adulthood. However, research on early-life effects suggests that there may be more durable, lifelong fitness impacts to the recipients of help, which in theory should strengthen selection for helping. Here, we show in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses ( Mungos mungo) that care received in the first 3 months of life has lifelong fitness benefits for both male and female recipients. In this species, adult helpers called 'escorts' form exclusive one-to-one caring relationships with specific pups (not their own offspring), allowing us to isolate the effects of being escorted on later reproduction and survival. Pups that were more closely escorted were heavier at sexual maturity, which was associated with higher lifetime reproductive success for both sexes. Moreover, for female offspring, lifetime reproductive success increased with the level of escorting received per se, over and above any effect on body mass. Our results suggest that early-life social care has durable benefits to offspring of both sexes in this species. Given the well-established developmental effects of early-life care in laboratory animals and humans, we suggest that similar effects are likely to be widespread in social animals more generally. We discuss some of the implications of durable fitness benefits for the evolution of intergenerational helping in cooperative animal societies, including humans. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma I. K. Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Faye J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
| | - Harry H. Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, UK
| | - Michael A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK
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Vitikainen EIK, Marshall HH, Thompson FJ, Sanderson JL, Bell MBV, Gilchrist JS, Hodge SJ, Nichols HJ, Cant MA. Biased escorts: offspring sex, not relatedness explains alloparental care patterns in a cooperative breeder. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.2384. [PMID: 28469015 PMCID: PMC5443930 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 04/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Kin selection theory predicts that animals should direct costly care where inclusive fitness gains are highest. Individuals may achieve this by directing care at closer relatives, yet evidence for such discrimination in vertebrates is equivocal. We investigated patterns of cooperative care in banded mongooses, where communal litters are raised by adult 'escorts' who form exclusive caring relationships with individual pups. We found no evidence that escorts and pups assort by parentage or relatedness. However, the time males spent escorting increased with increasing relatedness to the other group members, and to the pup they had paired with. Thus, we found no effect of relatedness in partner choice, but (in males) increasing helping effort with relatedness once partner choices had been made. Unexpectedly, the results showed clear assortment by sex, with female carers being more likely to tend to female pups, and male carers to male pups. This sex-specific assortment in helping behaviour has potential lifelong impacts on individual development and may impact the future size and composition of natal groups and dispersing cohorts. Where relatedness between helpers and recipients is already high, individuals may be better off choosing partners using other predictors of the costs and benefits of cooperation, without the need for possibly costly within-group kin discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma I K Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Harry H Marshall
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Faye J Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Jenni L Sanderson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Matthew B V Bell
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Jason S Gilchrist
- School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Sarah J Hodge
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Hazel J Nichols
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
| | - Michael A Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
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Mitchell J, Cant MA, Vitikainen EIK, Nichols HJ. Smelling fit: scent marking exposes parasitic infection status in the banded mongoose. Curr Zool 2017; 63:237-247. [PMID: 29491982 PMCID: PMC5804179 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Preference for uninfected mates is presumed beneficial as it minimizes one’s risk of contracting an infection and infecting one’s offspring. In avian systems, visual ornaments are often used to indicate parasite burdens and facilitate mate choice. However, in mammals, olfactory cues have been proposed to act as a mechanism allowing potential mates to be discriminated by infection status. The effect of infection upon mammalian mate choice is mainly studied in captive rodents where experimental trials support preference for the odors of uninfected mates and some data suggest scent marking is reduced in individuals with high infection burdens. Nevertheless, whether such effects occur in nonmodel and wild systems remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the interplay between parasite load (estimated using fecal egg counts) and scent marking behavior in a wild population of banded mongooses Mungos mungo. Focusing on a costly protozoan parasite of the genus Isospora and the nematode worm Toxocara, we first show that banded mongooses that engage in frequent, intensive scent marking have lower Isospora loads, suggesting marking behavior may be an indicator trait regarding infection status. We then use odor presentations to demonstrate that banded mongooses mark less in response to odors of opposite sexed individuals with high Isospora and Toxocara loads. As both of these parasites are known to have detrimental effects upon the health of preweaned young in other species, they would appear key targets to avoid during mate choice. Results provide support for scent as an important ornament and mechanism for advertising parasitic infection within wild mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Mitchell
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
| | - Michael A Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Emma I K Vitikainen
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Hazel J Nichols
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
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Female reproductive competition explains variation in prenatal investment in wild banded mongooses. Sci Rep 2016; 6:20013. [PMID: 26817515 PMCID: PMC4730225 DOI: 10.1038/srep20013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Female intrasexual competition is intense in cooperatively breeding species where offspring compete locally for resources and helpers. In mammals, females have been proposed to adjust prenatal investment according to the intensity of competition in the postnatal environment (a form of ‘predictive adaptive response’; PAR). We carried out a test of this hypothesis using ultrasound scanning of wild female banded mongooses in Uganda. In this species multiple females give birth together to a communal litter, and all females breed regularly from one year old. Total prenatal investment (size times the number of fetuses) increased with the number of potential female breeders in the group. This relationship was driven by fetus size rather than number. The response to competition was particularly strong in low weight females and when ecological conditions were poor. Increased prenatal investment did not trade off against maternal survival. In fact we found the opposite relationship: females with greater levels of prenatal investment had elevated postnatal maternal survival. Our results support the hypothesis that mammalian prenatal development is responsive to the intensity of postnatal competition. Understanding whether these responses are adaptive requires information on the long-term consequences of prenatal investment for offspring fitness.
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Cant MA, Vitikainen E, Nichols HJ. Demography and Social Evolution of Banded Mongooses. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-407186-5.00006-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
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Do fledglings choose wisely? An experimental investigation into social foraging behaviour. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1426-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Crofoot MC, Lambert TD, Kays R, Wikelski MC. Does watching a monkey change its behaviour? Quantifying observer effects in habituated wild primates using automated radiotelemetry. Anim Behav 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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12
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Müller CA, Cant MA. Imitation and traditions in wild banded mongooses. Curr Biol 2010; 20:1171-5. [PMID: 20605459 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.04.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2010] [Revised: 04/21/2010] [Accepted: 04/22/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Evidence has accumulated in recent years indicating that traditions are not a unique feature of human societies but may be common in primates and some other mammals. However, most documented cases remain contentious because observational studies of free-living animals suffer from interpretive weaknesses, whereas social diffusion experiments performed in captivity may not reflect conditions found in nature. Here we use experiments under natural conditions to demonstrate that wild banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) pass preferences for one of two possible foraging techniques on to the next generation through contextual imitation. Notably, both techniques coexisted within the same groups and were transmitted concurrently between adults and pups, which form close one-to-one associations during the period of pup dependency. This experimental demonstration of a foraging tradition in wild mammals provides critical evidence to support previous accounts of traditions in nonhuman animals based on distribution patterns of natural behaviors. Moreover, our data provide the first experimental demonstration of imitation in wild mammals and, contrary to common assumption, show that social learning need not lead to an increased behavioral homogeneity within groups.
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Hodge SJ, Bell MB, Mwanguhya F, Kyabulima S, Waldick RC, Russell AF. Maternal weight, offspring competitive ability, and the evolution of communal breeding. Behav Ecol 2009. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arp053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
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