Evolution of elaborate parental care: phenotypic and genetic correlations between parent and offspring traits

Andrews, Clare; Kruuk, Loeske E. B.; Smiseth, Per T.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arw129

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…We think this is unlikely given our earlier work showing that sibling competition does not exacerbate inbreeding depression in this species [22]. Additionally, our mean brood size was relatively small (potentially due to seasonal variation in reproductive success [42]), suggesting a low level of sibling competition in our study. An alternative explanation is that small and large females differ in how they invest in an inbred brood because of their different prospects for future breeding opportunities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring

Pilakouta

Smiseth

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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A maternal effect is a causal influence of the maternal phenotype on the offspring phenotype over and above any direct effects of genes. There is abundant evidence that maternal effects can have a major impact on offspring fitness. Yet, no previous study has investigated the potential role of maternal effects in influencing the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. Inbreeding depression is a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring relative to outbred offspring. Here, we tested whether maternal effects due to body size alter the magnitude of inbreeding depression in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. We found that inbreeding depression in larval survival was more severe for offspring of large females than offspring of small females. This might be due to differences in how small and large females invest in an inbred brood because of their different prospects for future breeding opportunities. To our knowledge, this is the first evidence for a causal effect of the maternal phenotype on the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring. In natural populations that are subject to inbreeding, maternal effects may drive variation in inbreeding depression and therefore contribute to variation in the strength and direction of selection for inbreeding avoidance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Maternal effects alter the severity of inbreeding depression in the offspring

Pilakouta

Smiseth

2016

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Recent advances in the study of parental care stress its multifaceted nature (e.g. Gardner & Smiseth, 2011;Royle et al, 2016;Andrews, Kruuk & Smiseth, 2017); we hope that our perspective on the intricacies of family life complements this fruitful trend by raising awareness of the multifaceted nature of social life in family groups. The further development of this perspective hinges on studies that investigate family life in species with non-derived (facultative) forms of family life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The other facets of family life and their role in the evolution of animal sociality

Kramer

Meunier

2018

Biological Reviews

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Family life forms an integral part of the life history of species across the animal kingdom and plays a crucial role in the evolution of animal sociality. Our current understanding of family life, however, is almost exclusively based on studies that (i) focus on parental care and associated family interactions (such as those arising from sibling rivalry and parent-offspring conflict), and (ii) investigate these phenomena in the advanced family systems of mammals, birds, and eusocial insects. Here, we argue that these historical biases have fostered the neglect of key processes shaping social life in ancestral family systems, and thus profoundly hamper our understanding of the (early) evolution of family life. Based on a comprehensive survey of the literature, we first illustrate that the strong focus on parental care in advanced social systems has deflected scrutiny of other important social processes such as sibling cooperation, parent-offspring competition and offspring assistance. We then show that accounting for these neglected processes - and their changing role over time - could profoundly alter our understanding of the origin and subsequent evolution of family life. Finally, we outline how this 'diachronic' perspective on the evolution of family living provides novel insights into general processes driving the evolution of animal sociality. Overall, we infer that the explicit consideration of thus-far neglected facets of family life, together with their study across the whole diversity of family systems, are crucial to advance our understanding of the processes that shape the evolution of social life.

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“…This may reflect that resource availability in this species is limited by the size 300 of the carcass acquired prior to breeding. Although females can facilitate larval growth and survival by providing more direct care (Andrews, Kruuk & Smiseth, 2017), they cannot increase the total supply of resources to the brood. In contrast, parents of birds and mammals can increase the total supply of resources to the brood in response to an increase in brood size either by extracting more energy from their 305 stored energy reserves (mammals) or by providing additional food from the surrounding environment (birds).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At each scan, we also recorded the number of times the female was observed providing direct care, defined as when she was provisioning food to the larvae 180 (engaging in mouth-to-mouth contact with at least one larva), interacting with the larvae (standing still within the crater and allowing the larvae to beg), or consuming carrion (feeding from within the crater; Walling, Stamper, Smiseth & Moore, 2008;Andrews, Kruuk & Smiseth, 2017).…”

Section: Offspring and Parental Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%