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Your search keyword '"Clutton‐Brock, Tim"' showing total 12 results
Start Over Author "Clutton‐Brock, Tim" Journal biology letters
12 results on '"Clutton‐Brock, Tim"'

5. Dispersal-induced social stress prolongs gestation in wild meerkats

Author

Maag, Nino, Cozzi, Gabriele, Seager, David, Manser, Marta, Sickmüller, Anna, Hildebrandt, Thomas B., Clutton-Brock, Tim, and Ozgul, Arpat

Abstract

In the majority of mammals, gestation length is relatively consistent and seldom varies by more than 3%. In a few species, females can adjust gestation length by delaying the development of the embryo after implantation. Delays in embryonic development allow females to defer the rising energetic costs of gestation when conditions are unfavourable, reducing the risk of embryo loss. Dispersal in mammals that breed cooperatively is a period when food intake is likely to be suppressed and stress levels are likely to be high. Here, we show that pregnant dispersing meerkats (Suricata suricatta), which have been aggressively evicted from their natal group and experience weight loss and extended periods of social stress, prolong their gestation by means of delayed embryonic development. Repeated ultrasound scans of wild, unanaesthetized females throughout their pregnancies showed that pregnancies of dispersers were on average 6.3% longer and more variable in length (52–65 days) than those of residents (54–56 days). The variation in dispersers shows that, unlike most mammals, meerkats can adapt to stress by adjusting their pregnancy length by up to 25%. By doing so, they potentially rearrange the costs of gestation during adverse conditions of dispersal and enhance offspring survival.

Published
2023
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12. Odour-based kin discrimination in the cooperatively breeding meerkat.

Author

Leclaire S, Nielsen JF, Thavarajah NK, Manser M, and Clutton-Brock TH

Subjects
Animals, Discrimination, Psychological, Female, Herpestidae genetics, Male, Phenotype, Recognition, Psychology, Social Behavior, South Africa, Anal Canal metabolism, Cues, Herpestidae physiology, Odorants, Smell
Abstract

Kin recognition is a useful ability for animals, facilitating cooperation among relatives and avoidance of excessive kin competition or inbreeding. In meerkats, Suricata suricatta, encounters between unfamiliar kin are relatively frequent, and kin recognition by phenotype matching is expected to avoid inbreeding with close relatives. Here, we investigate whether female meerkats are able to discriminate the scent of unfamiliar kin from unfamiliar non-kin. Dominant females were presented with anal gland secretion from unfamiliar individuals that varied in their relatedness. Our result indicates that females spent more time investigating the scent of related than unrelated unfamiliar individuals, suggesting that females may use a phenotype matching mechanism (or recognition alleles) to discriminate the odour of their kin from the odour of their non-kin. Our study provides a key starting point for further investigations into the use of kin recognition for inbreeding avoidance in the widely studied meerkat.

Published
2012
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