Early fitness consequences and hormonal correlates of parental behaviour in the social rodent, Octodon degus

Ebensperger, Luis A.; Ramírez-Otárola, Natalia; León, Cecilia; Ortiz, Mauricio; Croxatto, Horacio B.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.07.017

Cited by 40 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…There was only a weak link between soil hardness and the number of males per group. In degus, care provided by males has no immediate fitness effects to offspring (Ebensperger et al 2010). Our results suggest the possibility that males play a more important role in the maintenance of burrows, a hypothesis worthy of further testing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological drivers of group living in two populations of the communally rearing rodent, Octodon degus

Ebensperger

Sobrero

Quirici

et al. 2011

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Intraspecific variation in sociality is thought to reflect a trade-off between current fitness benefits and costs that emerge from individuals' decision to join or leave groups. Since those benefits and costs may be influenced by ecological conditions, ecological variation remains a major, ultimate cause of intraspecific variation in sociality. Intraspecific comparisons of mammalian sociality across populations facing different environmental conditions have not provided a consistent relationship between ecological variation and group-living. Thus, we studied two populations of the communally rearing rodent Octodon degus to determine how co-variation between sociality and ecology supports alternative ecological causes of group living. In particular, we examined how variables linked to predation risk, thermal conditions, burrowing costs, and food availability predicted temporal and population variation in sociality. Our study revealed population and temporal variation in total group size and group composition that covaried with population and yearly differences in ecology. In particular, predation risk and burrowing costs are supported as drivers of this social variation in degus. Thermal differences, food quantity and quality were not significant predictors of social group size. In contrast to between populations, social variation within populations was largely uncoupled from ecological differences.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological drivers of group living in two populations of the communally rearing rodent, Octodon degus

Ebensperger

Sobrero

Quirici

et al. 2011

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Octodon degus are an interesting comparison species in that they are from a different rodent lineage than the vole species and California mice, are not socially monogamous, but do often display care by males (Ebensperger et al, 2010). While research on paternal deprivation in this species has mostly focused on the cerebral cortex, some studies have included limbic areas as well.…”

Section: Effects Of Male Parenting On Offspringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathering in rodents: Neurobiological substrates and consequences for offspring

Bales

Saltzman

2016

Hormones and Behavior

130

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Paternal care, though rare among mammals, is routinely displayed by several species of rodents. Here we review the neuroanatomical and hormonal bases of paternal behavior, as well as the behavioral and neuroendocrine consequences of paternal behavior for offspring. Fathering behavior is subserved by many of the same neural substrates which are also involved in maternal behavior (for example, the medial preoptic area of the hypothalamus). While gonadal hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone, as well as hypothalamic neuropeptides such as oxytocin and vasopressin, and the pituitary hormone prolactin, are implicated in the activation of paternal behavior, there are significant gaps in our knowledge of their actions, as well as pronounced differences between species. Removal of the father in biparental species has long-lasting effects on behavior, as well as on these same neuroendocrine systems, in offspring. Finally, individual differences in paternal behavior can have similarly long-lasting, if more subtle, effects on offspring behavior. Future studies should examine similar outcome measures in multiple species, including both biparental species and closely related uniparental species. Careful phylogenetic analyses of the neuroendocrine systems presumably important to male parenting, as well as their patterns of gene expression, will also be important in establishing the next generation of hypotheses regarding the regulation of male parenting behavior.

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“…Laboratory studies indicate that females provide communal care to their offspring and transfer immunoglobulin to their young during pregnancy and lactation (Becker et al 2007). Degus also engage in other forms of communal care, including huddling and retrieving of non-descendent offspring (Ebensperger et al 2010). Natural populations are located throughout central Chile where females typically breed once per year in late autumn (May–June) and after a relatively long gestation (2–3 mo) give birth to litters of precocious offspring in late winter to early spring (September–October) (Ebensperger and Hurtado 2005).…”

Section: Uses Of the Degu As An Animal Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Octodon degus (Molina 1782): A Model in Comparative Biology and Biomedicine

Ardiles

Ewer

Acosta

et al. 2013

Cold Spring Harb Protoc

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One major goal of integrative and comparative biology is to understand and explain the interaction between the performance and behavior of animals in their natural environment. The Caviomorph, Octodon degus, is a native rodent species from Chile, and represents a unique model to study physiological and behavioral traits, including cognitive and sensory abilities. Degus live in colonies and have a well-structured social organization, with a mostly diurnal–crepuscular circadian activity pattern. More notable is the fact that in captivity, they reproduce and live for between 5 and 7 years and exhibit hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer's disease), diabetes, and cancer.

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Early fitness consequences and hormonal correlates of parental behaviour in the social rodent, Octodon degus

Cited by 40 publications

References 73 publications

Ecological drivers of group living in two populations of the communally rearing rodent, Octodon degus

Ecological drivers of group living in two populations of the communally rearing rodent, Octodon degus

Fathering in rodents: Neurobiological substrates and consequences for offspring

Octodon degus (Molina 1782): A Model in Comparative Biology and Biomedicine

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