Reproductive suppression and inbreeding avoidance in wild populations of co-operatively breeding meerkats ( Suricata suricatta )

O’Riain, M. Justin; Bennett, Nigel C.; Brotherton, Peter; McIlrath, G. M.; Clutton‐Brock, Tim

doi:10.1007/s002650000249

Cited by 137 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Regardless of their rank, however, all females are able to breed. Consequently, differences between the reproductive success of high-and low-ranking females are not as obvious as they are in species with strong reproductive skew, in which some females do not breed at all, e.g., dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula: Creel and Waser, 1997) suricates, (Suricata suricatta; O'Riain et al, 2000); and wild dogs (Creel and Creel, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting Reproduction and Mortality Among Baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Cheney

Seyfarth

Fischer

et al. 2004

International Journal of Primatology

266

231

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Affecting Reproduction and Mortality Among Baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Cheney

Seyfarth

Fischer

et al. 2004

International Journal of Primatology

266

231

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“…All samples were collected between 1600 and 2000 hours to minimize diel variation in hormone levels, and no animals were sampled within 12 days of a previous capture. Plasma concentrations of LH were determined by using a previously validated in vitro bioassay based on the production of testosterone by dispersed mouse Leydig cells (11). Assay sensitivity was 2.5 milliunits͞ml.…”

Section: Definition and Identification Of Evictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is widely recognized that subordinates in cooperative societies commonly show a degree of reproductive restraint due to factors such as a lack of access to unrelated breeding partners, poor body condition, or underdeveloped foraging skills that reduce their expected payoff from attempted reproduction (10)(11)(12). Under these circumstances, dominants would only benefit from directing stress-related suppression at the subset of subordinates who would otherwise attempt to breed.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This ''dominant female'' largely monopolizes reproduction within the group, conceiving at substantially higher rates than subordinates and producing Ͼ80% of the pups that survive their first month of life (13). Although the low conception rates of subordinate females (and their associated low estrogen levels) can sometimes be attributed to a lack of access to unrelated breeding partners within their groups (11,13), subordinate females still conceive at lower rates than dominants even when they have access to unrelated males (11), suggesting that other processes regulate their fertility as well. Aggression is uncommon outside breeding periods, but Ϸ1 month before the dominant female gives birth, she subjects some subordinate females to escalating attacks, commonly driving them from the group until her own litter is born (14).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Stress and the suppression of subordinate reproduction in cooperatively breeding meerkats

Young

Carlson

Monfort

et al. 2006

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

318

343

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In many animal societies, dominant individuals monopolize reproduction, but the tactics they employ to achieve this are poorly understood. One possibility is that aggressive dominants render their subordinates infertile by inducing chronic physiological ''stress.'' However, this hypothesis has been discarded largely for cooperatively breeding species, where reproductive monopolies are often extreme. Here we provide strong support for the stressrelated suppression hypothesis in a cooperative mammal, the meerkat (Suricata suricatta). When pregnant, dominant females subject some subordinate females to escalating aggression, culminating in temporary evictions from the group. While evicted, subordinate females suffer chronic elevation of their glucocorticoid adrenal hormone levels, reproductive down-regulation (reduced pituitary sensitivity to gonadotropin-releasing hormone), reduced conception rates, and increased abortion rates. Rather than constantly harassing all subordinate females, dominants only become aggressive when pregnant themselves (when subordinate reproduction would otherwise conflict with their own) and target those females with whom reproductive conflict is most likely (older, pregnant, and more distantly related females). Our findings suggest that dominant female meerkats employ stressful evictions to suppress reproduction among their probable competitors, when attempting to breed themselves. Given the lack of evidence for stress-related suppression in other cooperative breeders to date, it is clear that social stress alone cannot account for the reproductive failure of subordinates across such societies. However, our findings raise the possibility that, in some cooperative breeders at least, dominants may employ stress-related suppression as a backup mechanism to guard against lapses in reproductive restraint by their subordinates.cooperative breeding ͉ dominant control ͉ physiological ͉ reproductive restraint ͉ reproductive skew

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“…Among female mammals, reproductive skew is frequently a consequence of subordinates being prevented from mating by the dominant females, either aggressively, as in Suricata suricatta (O'Riain et al 2000), or Mungos mungo (Cant et al 2001), or by pheromonal cues, as in Heterocephalus glaber (Faulkes et al 1991). In the case of incomplete control of subordinate reproduction, dominant females might perform infanticide or attacks on the offspring, though such acts are rarely observed (Cant and Johnstone 1999).…”

Section: Kin Preferential Cooperationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kin-preferential cooperation, dominance-dependent reproductive skew, and competition for mates in communally nesting female house mice

Rusu

Krackow

2004

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Little is known about the behavioural mechanisms facilitating kin-preferential communal breeding in wild house mice (Mus domesticus). We evaluated the effect of kinship and male availability on aggression, social structure and reproductive skew in groups of female mice freely interacting and reproducing in seminatural indoor enclosures. Triplets of either sisters or nonsisters were established in enclosures provided with either one or three littermate males, which were unrelated and unfamiliar to the females. Sisters were more spatially associated and less aggressive than non-sisters, leading to higher incidences of communal breeding and reproduction. This is in agreement with theoretical considerations on kin selection in house mice. Reproductive success was highly skewed in favour of dominant females due to subordinate infertility or complete loss of first litters, which might have been caused by dominant females. In spite of this, subordinates only rarely dispersed from the enclosures, suggesting that perceived dispersal risk generally outweighed relatively reduced reproductive potentials. Aggression levels among females were significantly higher when one male was available, compared to when three males were available. We suggest that this might result from higher female-female competition for mates, due to the risk of missing fertilisation when synchronously oestrous females encounter limited numbers of males in a deme. Our results indicate that, first, communal nursing in house mice might have evolved to 'make the best out of a bad job' rather than to enhance offspring fitness; and, second, that female-female matecompetition might play an important role in shaping female social structure in this polygynous mammal.

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Reproductive suppression and inbreeding avoidance in wild populations of co-operatively breeding meerkats ( Suricata suricatta )

Cited by 137 publications

References 27 publications

Factors Affecting Reproduction and Mortality Among Baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Factors Affecting Reproduction and Mortality Among Baboons in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Stress and the suppression of subordinate reproduction in cooperatively breeding meerkats

Kin-preferential cooperation, dominance-dependent reproductive skew, and competition for mates in communally nesting female house mice

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