Reproductive Suppression Among Female Mammals: Implications for Biomedicine and Sexual Selection Theory

Wasser, Samuel K.; Barash, David P.

doi:10.1086/413545

Cited by 483 publications

(315 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…This finding confirms previous reports that female mammals experience high rates of reproductive failure (Brambell 1948;Wasser & Barash 1983). Overall loss may be much higher in many cases, for example, Brambell (1948) esti- mated the minimum total wastage of ova produced by wild rabbits to be 43.3%, of which between 10.2 and 13.0% are lost before implantation and most of the remainder before mid-term.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Female multiple mating behaviour, early reproductive failure and litter size variation in mammals

Stockley

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

105

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Female promiscuity is widespread among mammals, although its function is poorly understood. Recently, much interest has been generated by the hypothesis that female promiscuity, combined with postcopulatory paternity-biasing mechanisms, may function to reduce the costs of reproductive failure resulting from genetic incompatibility. Here, a comparative approach is used to determine if average rates of reproductive failure differ for polytocous mammal species with contrasting levels of female multiple-mating behaviour. After control for phylogeny, promiscuous species were found to have significantly lower rates of early reproductive failure than monogamous and polygynous species, in which females are relatively monandrous. Monandrous females appear to compensate for higher early reproductive failure with increased ova production, and thus produce comparable average litter sizes to those of more promiscuous females. However, there is significantly more variation around the average litter sizes produced by relatively monandrous females. These findings are broadly consistent with predictions of the genetic incompatibility avoidance hypothesis, although it is emphasized that alternative explanations cannot be ruled out on the basis of the comparative evidence presented. Further studies are needed to explore ecological correlates of multiple-mating behaviour, to investigate potential post-copulatory paternity-biasing mechanisms, and to identify the causes of reproductive failure in natural mammal populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Female multiple mating behaviour, early reproductive failure and litter size variation in mammals

Stockley

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

105

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“…''Impoverished reproductive conditions'' refers to reductions in the quality of females' environment and͞or health status, such as droughts, infections, or social conf licts. Miscarriage under such conditions could help minimize the cost of pregnancies with diminished chances of success, preserve valuable resources to be invested in future offspring with higher fitness prospects, and free those resources to be used on a woman's own survival and already existing offspring, which could be crucial during a crisis (43)(44)(45).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, current ''adaptive abortion models'' propose that very early abortions would be better explained by problems with the embryo's quality, rather than environmental challenges (43,44). They argue that to reduce the risk of terminating pregnancies that could otherwise be successful (should the reproductive context improve), gestation should be allowed to continue for as long as possible (44).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol levels and very early pregnancy loss in humans

Nepomnaschy

Welch

McConnell

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

282

197

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Maternal stress is commonly cited as an important risk factor for spontaneous abortion. For humans, however, there is little physiological evidence linking miscarriage to stress. This lack of evidence may be attributable to a paucity of research on maternal stress during the earliest gestational stages. Most human studies have focused on ''clinical'' pregnancy (>6 weeks after the last menstrual period). The majority of miscarriages, however, occur earlier, within the first 3 weeks after conception (Ϸ5 weeks after the last menstrual period). Studies focused on clinical pregnancy thus miss the most critical period for pregnancy continuance. We examined the association between miscarriage and levels of maternal urinary cortisol during the first 3 weeks after conception. Pregnancies characterized by increased maternal cortisol during this period (within participant analyses) were more likely to result in spontaneous abortion (P < 0.05). This evidence links increased levels in this stress marker with a higher risk of early pregnancy loss in humans.stress ͉ miscarriage ͉ placentation ͉ fetomaternal conflict ͉ evolutionary theory

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“…Therefore, selection should favour females that can detect circumstances highly inauspicious for reproduction-such as the presence of a potentially infanticidal dominant female-and restrain their own reproductive activity under these conditions. By engaging specialized, inhibitory neuroendocrine and behavioural mechanisms in the presence of a dominant female, subordinates minimize their own likelihood of investing in costly reproductive attempts that are unlikely to succeed, possibly increasing their prospects for survival and successful reproduction in the future ( Wasser & Barash 1983;Jaquish et al 1991;Digby 1995a;Abbott et al 1997;Saltzman 2003;Gilchrist 2006). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, subordinates might be likely to restrain their own reproduction in response to specific behavioural or sensory cues from dominant females, rather than relying on overt, potentially harmful manipulation or aggression by dominants. Third, to minimize or avoid investment in breeding attempts that are unlikely to succeed, subordinates may be expected to inhibit their own breeding early in the reproductive process, such as before conception or during early pregnancy ( Wasser & Barash 1983). How do findings in common marmosets fit these various predictions?…”

Section: Reproductive Suppression and Reproductive Skewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive skew in female common marmosets: what can proximate mechanisms tell us about ultimate causes?

2008

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Common marmosets are cooperatively breeding monkeys that exhibit high reproductive skew: most subordinate females fail to reproduce, while others attempt to breed but produce very few surviving infants. An extensive dataset on the mechanisms limiting reproduction in laboratory-housed and freeliving subordinate females provides unique insights into the causes of reproductive skew. Non-breeding adult females undergo suppression of ovulation and inhibition of sexual behaviour; however, they receive little or no aggression or mating interference by dominants and do not exhibit behavioural or physiological signs of stress. Breeding subordinate females receive comparable amounts of aggression to non-breeding females but are able to conceive, gestate and lactate normally. In groups containing two breeding females, however, both dominant and subordinate breeders kill one another's infants. These findings suggest that preconception reproductive suppression is not imposed on subordinate females by dominants, at a proximate level, but is instead self-imposed by most subordinates, consistent with restraint models of reproductive skew. In contrast to restraint models, however, this self-suppression probably evolved not in response to the threat of eviction by dominant females but in response to the threat of infanticide. Thus, reproductive skew in this species appears to be generated predominantly by subordinate self-restraint, in a proximate sense, but ultimately by dominant control over subordinates' reproductive attempts.

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Reproductive Suppression Among Female Mammals: Implications for Biomedicine and Sexual Selection Theory

Cited by 483 publications

References 89 publications

Female multiple mating behaviour, early reproductive failure and litter size variation in mammals

Female multiple mating behaviour, early reproductive failure and litter size variation in mammals

Cortisol levels and very early pregnancy loss in humans

Reproductive skew in female common marmosets: what can proximate mechanisms tell us about ultimate causes?

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