29 results on '"Cant, A."'
Search Results
2. Helping Effort and Future Fitness in Cooperative Animal Societies
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Cant, Michael A. and Field, Jeremy
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- 2001
3. Suppression of Social Conflict and Evolutionary Transitions to Cooperation
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Cant, Michael A.
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- 2012
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4. The role of threats in animal cooperation
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Cant, Michael A.
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- 2011
5. Lack of aggression and apparent altruism towards intruders in a primitive termite
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Feargus Cooney, Emma I. K. Vitikainen, Harry H. Marshall, Wilmie van Rooyen, Robert L. Smith, Michael A. Cant, and Nicole Goodey
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intergroup competition ,cooperation ,nest-mate recognition ,allogrooming ,aggression ,pterotermes occidentis ,Science - Abstract
In eusocial insects, the ability to discriminate nest-mates from non-nest-mates is widespread and ensures that altruistic actions are directed towards kin and agonistic actions are directed towards non-relatives. Most tests of nest-mate recognition have focused on hymenopterans, and suggest that cooperation typically evolves in tandem with strong antagonism towards non-nest-mates. Here, we present evidence from a phylogenetically and behaviourally basal termite species that workers discriminate members of foreign colonies. However, contrary to our expectations, foreign intruders were the recipients of more rather than less cooperative behaviour and were not subjected to elevated aggression. We suggest that relationships between groups may be much more peaceable in basal termites compared with eusocial hymenoptera, owing to energetic and temporal constraints on colony growth, and the reduced incentive that totipotent workers (who may inherit breeding status) have to contribute to self-sacrificial intergroup conflict.
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- 2016
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6. How Threats Influence the Evolutionary Resolution of Within‐Group Conflict
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Cant, Michael A. and Johnstone, Rufus A.
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- 2009
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7. Endogenous Timing in Competitive Interactions among Relatives
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Cant, Michael A. and Shen, Sheng-Feng
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- 2006
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8. A double pedigree reveals genetic but not cultural inheritance of cooperative personalities in wild banded mongooses
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Jennifer L. Sanderson, Kevin Arbuckle, David A. Wells, Hazel J. Nichols, Emma I. K. Vitikainen, Michael A. Cant, Harry H. Marshall, Faye J. Thompson, and Biosciences
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0106 biological sciences ,Male ,INFORMATION ,genetic structures ,TRANSMISSION ,Offspring ,Herpestidae ,media_common.quotation_subject ,BIOLOGY ,cooperation ,FITNESS CONSEQUENCES ,cultural inheritance ,Biology ,heritability ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,helping syndromes ,Personality ,Cross-fostering ,Animals ,Big Five personality traits ,Cooperative Behavior ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,media_common ,CONSISTENT INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES ,Ecology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,Inheritance (genetic algorithm) ,CARE ,Heritability ,RECIPROCITY ,Social learning ,Reciprocity (evolution) ,EVOLUTION ,Pedigree ,Phenotype ,Evolutionary biology ,personality ,1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology ,missing inheritance ,BEHAVIOR - Abstract
Personality traits, such as the propensity to cooperate, are often inherited from parents to offspring, but the pathway of inheritance is unclear. Traits could be inherited via genetic or parental effects, or culturally via social learning from role models. However, these pathways are difficult to disentangle in natural systems as parents are usually the source of all of these effects. Here, we exploit natural 'cross fostering' in wild banded mongooses to investigate the inheritance of cooperative behaviour. Our analysis of 800 adult helpers over 21 years showed low but significant genetic heritability of cooperative personalities in males but not females. Cross fostering revealed little evidence of cultural heritability: offspring reared by particularly cooperative helpers did not become more cooperative themselves. Our results demonstrate that cooperative personalities are not always highly heritable in wild, and that the basis of behavioural traits can vary within a species (here, by sex).
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- 2021
9. Leaders of war: modelling the evolution of conflict among heterogeneous groups.
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Sankey, D. W. E., Hunt, K. L., Croft, D. P., Franks, D. W., Green, P. A., Thompson, F. J., Johnstone, R. A., and Cant, M. A.
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INTERGROUP relations ,ANIMAL societies ,NATURAL resources ,ECOLOGICAL models ,SOCIAL interaction - Abstract
War, in human and animal societies, can be extremely costly but can also offer significant benefits to the victorious group. We might expect groups to go into battle when the potential benefits of victory (V) outweigh the costs of escalated conflict (C); however, V and C are unlikely to be distributed evenly in heterogeneous groups. For example, some leaders who make the decision to go to war may monopolize the benefits at little cost to themselves ('exploitative' leaders). By contrast, other leaders may willingly pay increased costs, above and beyond their share of V ('heroic' leaders). We investigated conflict initiation and conflict participation in an ecological model where single-leader–multiple-follower groups came into conflict over natural resources. We found that small group size, low migration rate and frequent interaction between groups increased intergroup competition and the evolution of 'exploitative' leadership, while converse patterns favoured increased intragroup competition and the emergence of 'heroic' leaders. We also found evidence of an alternative leader/follower 'shared effort' outcome. Parameters that favoured high contributing 'heroic' leaders, and low contributing followers, facilitated transitions to more peaceful outcomes. We outline and discuss the key testable predictions of our model for empiricists studying intergroup conflict in humans and animals. This article is part of the theme issue 'Intergroup conflict across taxa'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2022
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10. Inbreeding depresses altruism in a cooperative society
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Wells, David A., Cant, Michael A., Hoffman, Joseph I., Nichols, Hazel J., and Baalen, Minus
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0106 biological sciences ,cooperation ,Altruism (biology) ,Biology ,Breeding ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,evolution ,Inbreeding depression ,Animals ,Inbreeding ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Alloparenting ,Sociality ,Inbreeding Depression ,Ecology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,sociality ,Mating system ,Altruism ,Biological Evolution ,Breed ,mating systems ,alloparenting ,Evolutionary ecology ,Demography - Abstract
In some animal species, individuals regularly breed with relatives, including siblings and parents. Given the high fitness costs of inbreeding, evolutionary biologists have found it challenging to understand the persistence of these inbred societies in nature. One appealing but untested explanation is that early life care may create a benign environment that offsets inbreeding depression, allowing inbred societies to evolve. We test this possibility using 21 years of data from a wild cooperatively breeding mammal, the banded mongoose, a species where almost one in ten young result from close inbreeding. We show that care provided by parents and alloparents mitigates inbreeding depression for early survival. However, as adults, inbred individuals provide less care, reducing the amount of help available to the next generation. Our results suggest that inbred cooperative societies are rare in nature partly because the protective care that enables elevated levels of inbreeding can be reduced by inbreeding depression.
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- 2020
11. A double pedigree reveals genetic but not cultural inheritance of cooperative personalities in wild banded mongooses.
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Nichols, Hazel J., Arbuckle, Kevin, Sanderson, Jennifer L., Vitikainen, Emma I. K., Marshall, Harry H., Thompson, Faye J., Cant, Michael A., Wells, David A., and van Baalen, Minus
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MONGOOSES ,SOCIAL learning ,PERSONALITY ,HEREDITY - Abstract
Personality traits, such as the propensity to cooperate, are often inherited from parents to offspring, but the pathway of inheritance is unclear. Traits could be inherited via genetic or parental effects, or culturally via social learning from role models. However, these pathways are difficult to disentangle in natural systems as parents are usually the source of all of these effects. Here, we exploit natural 'cross fostering' in wild banded mongooses to investigate the inheritance of cooperative behaviour. Our analysis of 800 adult helpers over 21 years showed low but significant genetic heritability of cooperative personalities in males but not females. Cross fostering revealed little evidence of cultural heritability: offspring reared by particularly cooperative helpers did not become more cooperative themselves. Our results demonstrate that cooperative personalities are not always highly heritable in wild, and that the basis of behavioural traits can vary within a species (here, by sex). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
- Full Text
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12. Kinship dynamics: patterns and consequences of changes in local relatedness.
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Croft, Darren P., Weiss, Michael N., Nielsen, Mia L. K., Grimes, Charli, Cant, Michael A., Ellis, Samuel, Franks, Daniel W., and Johnstone, Rufus A.
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KINSHIP ,SOCIAL evolution ,SOCIAL groups ,AGE groups ,SOCIAL impact ,POPULATION dynamics - Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that patterns of local relatedness can change over time in predictable ways, a process termed kinship dynamics. Kinship dynamics may occur at the level of the population or social group, where the mean relatedness across all members of the population or group changes over time, or at the level of the individual, where an individual's relatedness to its local group changes with age. Kinship dynamics are likely to have fundamental consequences for the evolution of social behaviour and life history because they alter the inclusive fitness payoffs to actions taken at different points in time. For instance, growing evidence suggests that individual kinship dynamics have shaped the evolution of menopause and age-specific patterns of helping and harming. To date, however, the consequences of kinship dynamics for social evolution have not been widely explored. Here we review the patterns of kinship dynamics that can occur in natural populations and highlight how taking a kinship dynamics approach has yielded new insights into behaviour and life-history evolution. We discuss areas where analysing kinship dynamics could provide new insight into social evolution, and we outline some of the challenges in predicting and quantifying kinship dynamics in natural populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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13. Reproductive Conflict and the Evolution of Menopause in Killer Whales
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Sonia Mazzi, Stuart Nattrass, John K. B. Ford, Lauren J. N. Brent, Samuel Ellis, Kenneth C. Balcomb, Daniel W. Franks, Darren P. Croft, Rufus A. Johnstone, Michael A. Cant, Croft, Darren P [0000-0001-6869-5097], Cant, Michael A [0000-0002-1530-3077], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
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0106 biological sciences ,0301 basic medicine ,life history ,senescence ,media_common.quotation_subject ,cooperation ,Fertility ,Biology ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,human evolution ,medicine ,Kinship ,Animals ,media_common ,fertility ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all) ,Reproductive success ,Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) ,Ecology ,Grandmother hypothesis ,Reproduction ,Inclusive fitness ,medicine.disease ,Biological Evolution ,Menopause ,030104 developmental biology ,Human evolution ,cetacean ,grandmother hypothesis ,Female ,Whale, Killer ,FOS: Medical biotechnology ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Demography - Abstract
Summary Why females of some species cease ovulation prior to the end of their natural lifespan is a long-standing evolutionary puzzle [1–4]. The fitness benefits of post-reproductive helping could in principle select for menopause [1, 2, 5], but the magnitude of these benefits appears insufficient to explain the timing of menopause [6–8]. Recent theory suggests that the cost of inter-generational reproductive conflict between younger and older females of the same social unit is a critical missing term in classical inclusive fitness calculations (the "reproductive conflict hypothesis" [6, 9]). Using a unique long-term dataset on wild resident killer whales, where females can live decades after their final parturition, we provide the first test of this hypothesis in a non-human animal. First, we confirm previous theoretical predictions that local relatedness increases with female age up to the end of reproduction. Second, we construct a new evolutionary model and show that given these kinship dynamics, selection will favor younger females that invest more in competition, and thus have greater reproductive success, than older females (their mothers) when breeding at the same time. Third, we test this prediction using 43 years of individual-based demographic data in resident killer whales and show that when mothers and daughters co-breed, the mortality hazard of calves from older-generation females is 1.7 times that of calves from younger-generation females. Intergenerational conflict combined with the known benefits conveyed to kin by post-reproductive females can explain why killer whales have evolved the longest post-reproductive lifespan of all non-human animals.
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- 2017
14. Variable ecological conditions promote male helping by changing banded mongoose group composition
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Marshall, Harry H., Sanderson, Jennifer L., Mwanghuya, Francis, Businge, Robert, Kyabulima, Solomon, Hares, Michelle C., Inzani, Emma, Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys, Mwesige, Kenneth, Thompson, Faye J., Vitikainen, Emma I. K., and Cant, Michael A.
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genetic structures ,ecological variability ,sex ratios ,cooperation ,Original Article ,environmental change ,individual differences - Abstract
Lay Summary Male banded mongooses babysit more when rainfall is variable. Banded mongooses live in cooperative family groups and males in particular help raise pups that are not necessarily their own. It has been suggested that ecological conditions affect cooperation, and our study confirms that the variability of conditions is important: Females face higher mortality during years with more variable rainfall, and males may be better off helping their relatives when there are fewer opportunities for mating. Twitter: @HarryHMarshall, Ecological conditions are expected to have an important influence on individuals’ investment in cooperative care. However, the nature of their effects is unclear: both favorable and unfavorable conditions have been found to promote helping behavior. Recent studies provide a possible explanation for these conflicting results by suggesting that increased ecological variability, rather than changes in mean conditions, promote cooperative care. However, no study has tested whether increased ecological variability promotes individual-level helping behavior or the mechanisms involved. We test this hypothesis in a long-term study population of the cooperatively breeding banded mongoose, Mungos mungo, using 14 years of behavioral and meteorological data to explore how the mean and variability of ecological conditions influence individual behavior, body condition, and survival. Female body condition was more sensitive to changes in rainfall leading to poorer female survival and pronounced male-biased group compositions after periods of high rainfall variability. After such periods, older males invested more in helping behavior, potentially because they had fewer mating opportunities. These results provide the first empirical evidence for increased individual helping effort in more variable ecological conditions and suggest this arises because of individual differences in the effect of ecological conditions on body condition and survival, and the knock-on effect on social group composition. Individual differences in sensitivity to environmental variability, and the impacts this has on the internal structure and composition of animal groups, can exert a strong influence on the evolution and maintenance of social behaviors, such as cooperative care.
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- 2016
15. Adaptation to public goods cheats in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
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Michael A. Cant, Siobhán O'Brien, Steve Paterson, Adela M. Luján, and Angus Buckling
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0301 basic medicine ,siderophore ,genetic structures ,Natural resource economics ,Siderophores ,medicine.disease_cause ,SIDEROPHORE ,purl.org/becyt/ford/1 [https] ,PYOVERDINE ,General Environmental Science ,Experimental evolution ,education.field_of_study ,pyoverdine ,Ecology ,EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION ,General Medicine ,Public good ,Adaptation, Physiological ,Biological Evolution ,Siderophore ,Public Goods ,Cooperation ,Pseudomonas ,Pseudomonas aeruginosa ,PSEUDOMONAS ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS ,Research Article ,public goods ,Evolution ,Otras Ciencias Biológicas ,Iron ,Cheating ,030106 microbiology ,Population ,cooperation ,Biology ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Ciencias Biológicas ,03 medical and health sciences ,medicine ,Production (economics) ,experimental evolution ,education ,purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 [https] ,Productivity ,COOPERATION ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,fungi ,ComputingMilieux_PERSONALCOMPUTING ,PUBLIC GOODS ,030104 developmental biology ,Adaptation - Abstract
Cooperation in nature is ubiquitous, but is susceptible to social cheats who pay little or no cost of cooperation yet reap the benefits. The effect such cheats have on reducing population productivity suggests that there is selection for cooperators to mitigate the adverse effects of cheats. While mechanisms have been elucidated for scenarios involving a direct association between producer and cooperative product, it is less clear how cooperators may suppress cheating in an anonymous public goods scenario, where cheats cannot be directly identified. Here, we investigate the real-time evolutionary response of cooperators to cheats when cooperation is mediated by a diffusible public good: the production of iron-scavenging siderophores by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We find that siderophore producers evolved in the presence of a high frequency of non-producing cheats were fitter in the presence of cheats, at no obvious cost to population productivity. A novel morphotype independently evolved and reached higher frequencies in cheat-adapted versus control populations, exhibiting reduced siderophore production but increased production of pyocyanin—an extracellular toxin that can also increase the availability of soluble iron. This suggests that cooperators may have mitigated the negative effects of cheats by downregulating siderophore production and upregulating an alternative iron-acquisition public good. More generally, the study emphasizes that cooperating organisms can rapidly adapt to the presence of anonymous cheats without necessarily incurring fitness costs in the environment they evolve in., Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 284 (1859), ISSN:0080-4649, ISSN:0950-1193, ISSN:1471-2954, ISSN:0962-8452
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- 2017
16. The evolution of menopause in cetaceans and humans: the role of demography
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Rufus A. Johnstone and Michael A. Cant
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life history ,Male ,Population Dynamics ,Zoology ,Cetacea ,cooperation ,Kin selection ,Models, Biological ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Kinship ,Animals ,Humans ,Family ,Mating ,dispersal ,Research Articles ,General Environmental Science ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,biology ,Grandmother hypothesis ,Age Factors ,General Medicine ,reproductive conflict ,biology.organism_classification ,Biological Evolution ,Biological dispersal ,Philopatry ,Female ,Menopause ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Human Females ,Demography - Abstract
Human females stop reproducing long before they die. Among other mammals, only pilot and killer whales exhibit a comparable period of post-reproductive life. The grandmother hypothesis suggests that kin selection can favour post-reproductive survival when older females help their relatives to reproduce. But although there is an evidence that grandmothers can provide such assistance, it is puzzling why menopause should have evolved only among the great apes and toothed whales. We have previously suggested ( Cant & Johnstone 2008 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105 , 5332–5336 ( doi:10.1073/pnas.0711911105 )) that relatedness asymmetries owing to female-biased dispersal in ancestral humans would have favoured younger females in reproductive competition with older females, predisposing our species to the evolution of menopause. But this argument appears inapplicable to menopausal cetaceans, which exhibit philopatry of both sexes combined with extra-group mating. Here, we derive general formulae for ‘kinship dynamics’, the age-related changes in local relatedness that occur in long-lived social organisms as a consequence of dispersal and mortality. We show that the very different social structures of great apes and menopausal whales both give rise to an increase in local relatedness with female age, favouring late-life helping. Our analysis can therefore help to explain why, of all long-lived, social mammals, it is specifically among the great apes and toothed whales that menopause and post-reproductive helping have evolved.
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- 2010
17. Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality
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Juergen Gadau, Leo W. Beukeboom, Jun Abe, Kazuki Tsuji, Yannis Michalakis, Diane C. Wiernasz, Sam P. Brown, Rufus A. Johnstone, Jeremy Field, Joel L. Sachs, Iain D. Couzin, Leda Cosmides, Andrew Cockburn, Allen J. Moore, Samuel Alizon, David W. Pfennig, Alex Kacelnik, John Tooby, Daniel J. C. Kronauer, Janet Shellmann-Sherman, Thomas C. Scott-Phillips, Nicholas H. Barton, Pekka Pamilo, Paul W. Sherman, Ronald Noë, David M. Shuker, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Richard Wrangham, Eric L. Charnov, Richard McElreath, Thibaud Monnin, Liselotte Sundström, William A. Foster, Sarah E. Reece, Sasha R. X. Dall, Michael Taborsky, Jan Komdeur, Francois Balloux, Stuart A. West, Stephen T. Emlen, Paul Schmid-Hempel, Gerald Borgia, Francisco Úbeda, Olav Rueppell, Ulrich G. Mueller, Kevin R. Foster, Charles W. Fox, Sylvain Gandon, Patrick Abbot, Alan Grafen, Denis Roze, Tom Wenseleers, Michael G. Gardner, Geoff A. Parker, Claire El Mouden, João Alpedrinha, Thomas Getty, Michael A. D. Goodisman, Trine Bilde, Michel Chapuisat, Peter D. Taylor, Sébastien Lion, Sigal Balshine, Natalie Jiricny, Edward L. Vargo, Troy Day, Douglas W. Mock, E. Toby Kiers, Lorenzo A. Santorelli, David F. Westneat, Judith Korb, Pierre-Henri Gouyon, Scott Creel, David C. Queller, Max N. Burton-Chellew, Geoff Wild, Michael D. Breed, Laurent Lehmann, Bernard J. Crespi, Richard K. Grosberg, Ken R. Helms, Jürgen Heinze, Janis L. Dickinson, Daniel J. Rankin, Heikki Helanterä, Michael P. Schwarz, Kim Hill, Jerry A. Coyne, Régis Ferrière, Paul H. Harvey, Angus Buckling, Jay D. Evans, Graham J. Thompson, Hanna Kokko, Rolf Kümmerli, James A. R. Marshall, Jes S. Pedersen, Andrew G. Zink, Samir Okasha, Gilbert Roberts, Redouan Bshary, Nancy Tyler Burley, Christina M. Grozinger, Timothy A. Linksvayer, Richard E. Michod, jeff smith, Robert L. Curry, Malte Andersson, Max Reuter, Jeanne A. Zeh, Beverly I. Strassmann, Nick Colegrave, Mary Jane West-Eberhard, François Rousset, Joseph C. Spagna, Susanne Foitzik, Bernard Voelkl, David W. Zeh, Bruce E. Lyon, Simon K. A. Robson, Jean-Baptiste André, Michael A. Cant, Neil D. Tsutsui, Jay M. Biernaskie, Ido Pen, Robert Montgomerie, Ben J. Hatchwell, Minus van Baalen, Darryl T. Gwynne, Andy Gardner, John Alcock, Andrew V. Suarez, Blaine J. Cole, Stefano Turillazzi, Lee Alan Dugatkin, Andrew J. Young, Hudson K. Reeve, Pen group, Komdeur lab, Beukeboom lab, Weissing group, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Evolution Théorique et Expérimentale (MIVEGEC-ETE), Perturbations, Evolution, Virulence (PEV), Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle (MIVEGEC), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Ecologie et évolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford [Oxford], Medical Research Council Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling, Imperial College London-Faculty of Medicine-Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institut de Biologie, Université de Neuchâtel (UNINE), Department of zoology, Department of Ecology and Evolution - Biophore, Université de Lausanne (UNIL), Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM), Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Princeton], Princeton University, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Tucson] (EEB), University of Arizona, Fonctionnement et évolution des systèmes écologiques (FESE), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics [Oxford] (AOPP), University Park, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), École polytechnique (X), Freiburg University, FREIBURG UNIVERSITY, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University [Tempe] (ASU), Department of Ecological Science [Amsterdam], Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Australian National University (ANU), Animal Ecology Group, University of Groningen [Groningen], Behavioural Biology, University of Osnabrueck, Stanford Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Stanford University, University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] (UvA), Génétique et évolution des maladies infectieuses (GEMI), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Department of Biology, Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies [Groningen], Department of biology, Washington University in Saint Louis (WUSTL), University College of London [London] (UCL), Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin (AD2M), Station biologique de Roscoff [Roscoff] (SBR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polytech'Paris-UPMC, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC), Centre de Thermique de Lyon (CETHIL), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] (ETH Zürich), Department of Behavioural Ecology, University of Bern, School of Mathematical Sciences [Dublin], University College Dublin [Dublin] (UCD), Catholic University of Leuven - Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Department of Biology and Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Kentucky, Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon), Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA), Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS Paris)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UM3), Vrije Universiteit [Brussels] (VUB), Stanford University [Stanford], Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Washington University in St Louis, Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin (ADMM), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Station biologique de Roscoff [Roscoff] (SBR), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich [Zürich] (ETH Zürich), Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle ( MIVEGEC ), Université de Montpellier ( UM ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ) -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement ( IRD [France-Sud] ), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier ( ISEM ), Université de Montpellier ( UM ) -Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Ecologie et évolution, École normale supérieure - Paris ( ENS Paris ) -Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 ( UPMC ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Université de Neuchâtel, Université de Lausanne ( UNIL ), University of Cambridge [UK] ( CAM ), Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Tucson] ( EEB ), Fonctionnement et évolution des systèmes écologiques ( FESE ), Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive ( CEFE ), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 ( UM3 ) -Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques ( Montpellier SupAgro ) -École pratique des hautes études ( EPHE ) -Institut national de la recherche agronomique [Montpellier] ( INRA Montpellier ) -Université de Montpellier ( UM ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ) -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement ( IRD [France-Sud] ) -Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier ( Montpellier SupAgro ), Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics [Oxford] ( AOPP ), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle ( MNHN ), École polytechnique ( X ), Arizona State University [Tempe] ( ASU ), Vrije Universiteit [Brussel] ( VUB ), Australian National University ( ANU ), University of Amsterdam [Amsterdam] ( UvA ), Génétique et évolution des maladies infectieuses ( GEMI ), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie ( DEPE-IPHC ), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien ( IPHC ), Université de Strasbourg ( UNISTRA ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ) -Université de Strasbourg ( UNISTRA ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), University College of London [London] ( UCL ), Adaptation et diversité en milieu marin ( ADMM ), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 ( UPMC ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 ( UPMC ), Centre de Thermique de Lyon ( CETHIL ), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 ( UCBL ), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon ( INSA Lyon ), Université de Lyon-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées ( INSA ) -Institut National des Sciences Appliquées ( INSA ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule [Zürich] ( ETH Zürich ), University College Dublin [Dublin] ( UCD ), K.U.Leuven, University of Zurich, Abbot, P, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), University of Oxford, Université de Lausanne = University of Lausanne (UNIL), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud])-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Université Montpellier 1 (UM1)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Sud]), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar (Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA))-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of Kentucky (UK), and Animal Ecology
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Value (ethics) ,[ INFO.INFO-MO ] Computer Science [cs]/Modeling and Simulation ,Evolution of eusociality ,Population ,kin selection, inclusive fitness theory, social insects, eusociality, social evolution ,cooperation ,ComputingMilieux_LEGALASPECTSOFCOMPUTING ,Kin selection ,Biology ,Altruism (biology) ,[SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies ,03 medical and health sciences ,Misrepresentation ,[ SDV.MP ] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology ,education ,030304 developmental biology ,1000 Multidisciplinary ,0303 health sciences ,education.field_of_study ,Multidisciplinary ,[SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] ,KIN SELECTION ,BEHAVIOUR ,Inclusive fitness ,fitness, eusociality ,Eusociality ,[INFO.INFO-MO]Computer Science [cs]/Modeling and Simulation ,EVOLUTION ,Epistemology ,MODEL ,[ SDV.BID.EVO ] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE] ,[SDV.MP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology ,Evolutionary biology ,570 Life sciences ,biology ,590 Animals (Zoology) ,[ SDV.BID.SPT ] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics, Phylogenetics and taxonomy - Abstract
International audience; Arising from M. A. Nowak, C. E. Tarnita & E. O. Wilson 466, 1057-1062 (2010); Nowak et al. reply. Nowak et al. argue that inclusive fitness theory has been of little value in explaining the natural world, and that it has led to negligible progress in explaining the evolution of eusociality. However, we believe that their arguments are based upon a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory and a misrepresentation of the empirical literature. We will focus our comments on three general issues.
- Published
- 2011
18. Reproductive control via eviction (but not the threat of eviction) in banded mongooses
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Sarah J. Hodge, Hazel J. Nichols, Jason S. Gilchrist, Matthew B.V. Bell, and Michael A. Cant
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punishment ,Punishment (psychology) ,Herpestidae ,QH301 Biology ,Reproduction (economics) ,cooperation ,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology ,Conflict, Psychological ,Sexual Behavior, Animal ,Empirical research ,Game Theory ,Research articles ,skew ,eviction ,Animals ,Uganda ,Social Behavior ,Control (linguistics) ,General Environmental Science ,Pace ,Banded mongoose ,Eviction ,General Immunology and Microbiology ,biology ,Reproduction ,General Medicine ,reproductive conflict ,Models, Theoretical ,biology.organism_classification ,Social Dominance ,Linear Models ,570 Life sciences ,Female ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,Psychology ,Social psychology ,Game theory - Abstract
Considerable research has focused on understanding variation in reproductive skew in cooperative animal societies, but the pace of theoretical development has far outstripped empirical testing of the models. One major class of model suggests that dominant individuals can use the threat of eviction to deter subordinate reproduction (the ‘restraint’ model), but this idea remains untested. Here, we use long-term behavioural and genetic data to test the assumptions of the restraint model in banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), a species in which subordinates breed regularly and evictions are common. We found that dominant females suffer reproductive costs when subordinates breed, and respond to these costs by evicting breeding subordinates from the groupen masse, in agreement with the assumptions of the model. We found no evidence, however, that subordinate females exercise reproductive restraint to avoid being evicted in the first place. This means that the pattern of reproduction is not the result of a reproductive ‘transaction’ to avert the threat of eviction. We present a simple game theoretical analysis that suggests that eviction threats may often be ineffective to induce pre-emptive restraint among multiple subordinates and predicts that threats of eviction (or departure) will be much more effective in dyadic relationships and linear hierarchies. Transactional models may be more applicable to these systems. Greater focus on testing the assumptions rather than predictions of skew models can lead to a better understanding of how animals control each other's reproduction, and the extent to which behaviour is shaped by overt acts versus hidden threats.
- Published
- 2010
19. Adaptation to public goods cheats in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
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O'Brien, Siobhán, Luján, Adela M., Paterson, Steve, Cant, Michael A., and Buckling, Angus
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PSEUDOMONAS aeruginosa ,BIOLOGICAL adaptation ,PSEUDOMONAS ,SELF-organizing systems ,BIOLOGICAL variation - Abstract
Cooperation in nature is ubiquitous, but is susceptible to social cheats who pay little or no cost of cooperation yet reap the benefits. The effect such cheats have on reducing population productivity suggests that there is selection for cooperators to mitigate the adverse effects of cheats. While mechanisms have been elucidated for scenarios involving a direct association between producer and cooperative product, it is less clear how cooperators may suppress cheating in an anonymous public goods scenario, where cheats cannot be directly identified. Here, we investigate the real-time evolutionary response of cooperators to cheats when cooperation is mediated by a diffusible public good: the production of iron-scavenging siderophores by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We find that siderophore producers evolved in the presence of a high frequency of non-producing cheats were fitter in the presence of cheats, at no obvious cost to population productivity. A novel morphotype independently evolved and reached higher frequencies in cheat-adapted versus control populations, exhibiting reduced siderophore production but increased production of pyocyanin-an extracellular toxin that can also increase the availability of soluble iron. This suggests that cooperators may have mitigated the negative effects of cheats by downregulating siderophore production and upregulating an alternative iron-acquisition public good. More generally, the study emphasizes that cooperating organisms can rapidly adapt to the presence of anonymous cheats without necessarily incurring fitness costs in the environment they evolve in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
20. Sex-biased dispersal, haplodiploidy and the evolution of helping in social insects.
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Rufus A., Johnstone, Michael A., Cant, and Jeremy, Field
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- *
HAPLODIPLOIDY , *DISPERSAL of insects , *INSECT societies , *KIN selection (Evolution) , *INSECT reproduction , *INSECT locomotion - Abstract
In his famous haplodiploidy hypothesis, W. D. Hamilton proposed that high sistersister relatedness facilitates the evolution of kin-selected reproductive altruism among Hymenopteran females. Subsequent analyses, however, suggested that haplodiploidy cannot promote altruism unless altruists capitalize on relatedness asymmetries by helping to raise offspring whose sex ratio is more female-biased than the population at large. Here, we show that haplodiploidy is in fact more favourable than is diploidy to the evolution of reproductive altruism on the part of females, provided only that dispersal is male-biased (no sex-ratio bias or active kin discrimination is required). The effect is strong, and applies to the evolution both of sterile female helpers and of helping among breeding females. Moreover, a review of existing data suggests that female philopatry and non-local mating are widespread among nest-building Hymenoptera. We thus conclude that Hamilton was correct in his claim that family relationships in the Hymenoptera are potentially very favourable to the evolution of reproductive altruism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2012
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- View/download PDF
21. The cost of dominance: suppressing subordinate reproduction affects the reproductive success of dominant female banded mongooses.
- Author
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M. B. V., Bell, H. J., Nichols, J. S., Gilchrist, M. A., Cant, and S. J., Hodge
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ANIMAL social behavior ,MONGOOSES ,ANIMAL reproduction ,ANIMAL variation ,COOPERATIVE breeding in animals ,EMPIRICAL research ,PREGNANCY in animals - Abstract
Social species show considerable variation in the extent to which dominant females suppress subordinate reproduction. Much of this variation may be influenced by the cost of active suppression to dominants, who may be selected to balance the need to maximize the resources available for their own offspring against the costs of interfering with subordinate reproduction. To date, the cost of reproductive suppression has received little attention, despite its potential to influence the outcome of conflict over the distribution of reproduction in social species. Here, we investigate possible costs of reproductive suppression in banded mongooses, where dominant females evict subordinates from their groups, thereby inducing subordinate abortion. We show that evicting subordinate females is associated with substantial costs to dominant females: pups born to females who evicted subordinates while pregnant were lighter than those born after undisturbed gestations; pups whose dependent period was disrupted by an eviction attained a lower weight at independence; and the proportion of a litter that survived to independence was reduced if there was an eviction during the dependent period. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study indicating a possible cost to dominants in attempting to suppress subordinate breeding, and we argue that much of the variation in reproductive skew both within and between social species may be influenced by adaptive variation in the effort invested in suppression by dominants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2012
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
22. Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses
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Thompson, Faye J., Marshall, Harry H., Sanderson, Jennifer L., Vitikainen, Emma I. K., Nichols, Hazel J., Gilchrist, Jason S., Young, Andrew J., Hodge, Sarah J., and Cant, Michael A.
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coercion ,Male ,QL ,Herpestidae ,QH301 Biology ,QH ,conflict ,Reproduction ,cooperation ,reproductive competition ,eviction ,590 Animals (Zoology) ,Animals ,forced dispersal ,Female ,Uganda ,Social Behavior ,Research Articles - Abstract
In many vertebrate societies, forced eviction of group members is an important determinant of population structure, but little is known about what triggers eviction. Three main explanations are: (i) the reproductive competition hypothesis, (ii) the coercion of cooperation hypothesis, and (iii) the adaptive forced dispersal hypothesis. The last hypothesis proposes that dominant individuals use eviction as an adaptive strategy to propagate copies of their alleles through a highly structured population. We tested these hypotheses as explanations for eviction in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), using a 16-year dataset on life history, behaviour and relatedness. In this species, groups of females, or mixed-sex groups, are periodically evicted en masse. Our evidence suggests that reproductive competition is the main ultimate trigger for eviction for both sexes. We find little evidence that mass eviction is used to coerce helping, or as a mechanism to force dispersal of relatives into the population. Eviction of females changes the landscape of reproductive competition for remaining males, which may explain why males are evicted alongside females. Our results show that the consequences of resolving within-group conflict resonate through groups and populations to affect population structure, with important implications for social evolution.
23. Dominant aggression as a deterrent signal in paper wasps.
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Thompson, Faye J., Donaldson, Lynda, Johnstone, Rufus A., Field, Jeremy, and Cant, Michael A.
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PAPER wasps ,ANIMAL aggression ,ANIMAL social behavior ,COOPERATIVE breeding in animals ,SOCIAL evolution in animals ,ANIMAL societies ,ANIMAL behavior - Abstract
Low-level social aggression is a conspicuous feature of cooperative animal societies, but its precise function is usually unclear. One long-standing hypothesis is that aggressive displays by dominant individuals serve to reduce uncertainty about relative strength and deter subordinates from starting fights that they are unlikely to win. However, most formal theoretical models of this idea do not consider how the credibility of deterrent signals might change over time in social groups. We developed a simple model of dominant aggression as a deterrent signal, which takes into account how credibility changes over time and how selection should act on receiver memory. We then carried out an experimental test of the predictions of our model on a field population of the paper wasp, Polistes dominulus. The match between our theoretical and empirical results suggests that low-level social aggression can help to maintain the stability and productivity of cooperative associations in this species. Moreover, our work suggests that rates of aggression in animal societies and the robustness of social memories are likely to be intimately related.Social animals often spend a great deal of time and energy being aggressive to one another, for reasons that are not clear. Our experiment on paper wasps shows that aggression can in fact promote peace and harmony in cooperative groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2014
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24. Conflict within and between groups of cooperative banded mongooses
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Thompson, Faye Jacqueline, Cant, Michael, and Young, Andrew
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599.74 ,conflict ,cooperation ,social evolution ,eviction ,banded mongoose - Abstract
Conflict within and between social groups is a conspicuous feature of cooperative animal societies. Theoretical and empirical research aims to understand the role of within- and between-group conflict in the evolution of cooperative behaviour, but these forms of conflict are rarely studied together. Eviction as a means of within-group conflict resolution can have important implications for the individuals involved, and the wider population through effects on dispersal, gene flow, and population structure. Intergroup conflict, although prevalent in many social species, is relatively understudied outside of humans and chimpanzees, but could play an important role in the evolution of cooperative behaviours. However, currently there is a lack of understanding of the causes and consequences of within- and between-group conflict to be able to draw conclusions on theoretical links to their role in social evolution. In this thesis, I use a wild population of banded mongooses, Mungos mungo, to investigate the causes and consequences of eviction and intergroup conflict in a highly cooperative species. First, I show that eviction in banded mongooses is triggered by reproductive competition in both sexes (Chapter 2). Second, I find that, once the decision to evict has been made, younger females and those older, more closely related females are preferentially evicted (Chapter 3). This surprising result is explained by a theoretical model which shows that, where individuals are capable of resisting eviction, the usual prediction of positive kin discrimination can be reversed. Third, I show that eviction has demographic effects, with consequences for group size and recruitment (Chapter 4). Finally, I show that intergroup conflict is stimulated by intensified resource competition, and that the consequences of intergroup conflict can have measureable costs to both individuals and groups in the long- and short-term (Chapter 5). This work shows that the means of resolving within-group conflict at an individual level can resonate to affect demography and dynamics at higher levels, and that the nature and intensity of intergroup conflict has the potential to influence patterns of cooperation and conflict within groups. I suggest that within- and between-group conflict may often be intimately linked, and that recognising this link could help to advance our conceptual understanding of their role in the evolution of cooperative behaviour.
- Published
- 2016
25. Conflict and cooperation in vertebrate societies
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Sanderson, Jennifer Louise and Cant, Michael
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303.6 ,testosterone ,glucocorticoid ,cooperation ,vertebrate ,banded mongoose - Abstract
Within animal societies, individuals often differ greatly in their level of investment in cooperative activities. Individuals are predicted to show high cooperative investment if high levels of relatedness lead to large indirect fitness benefits, or if differences in individual characteristics such as age, sex, rank, or body condition increase the direct fitness benefits of helping. However, individual differences often persist after these differences are controlled for; a residual variation that remains unexplained. Understanding the proximate mechanisms underlying variation in behaviour can give novel insights into the selection pressures shaping behavioural differences. This suggests that a research focus onto the proximate mechanisms underpinning cooperative behaviours is needed to further our understanding of why individuals behave differently within social groups. In this thesis, I address this shortfall in understanding by investigating hormonal variation alongside individual differences in cooperative investment in the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). Banded mongooses are a highly social carnivore with two highly conspicuous forms of cooperative offspring care that are easily measurable and show large inter-individual variation. In chapter 3, I demonstrate a negative carry-over effect of investment in offspring care in consecutive breeding attempts. I show that this carry-over effect is mediated by variation in glucocorticoid concentrations, which may be attributable to the energetic costs of helping. Glucocorticoids predict investment in offspring care, suggesting that this mechanism may drive inter-individual variation in cooperative investment. In chapter 4, I find evidence for a testosterone mediated trade-off between offspring care and mating effort, which suggests that inter-individual differences may also be driven by variation in the costs of helping attributable to missed mating opportunities. In chapter 5, I use simulated territorial intrusions to show that there is unlikely to be a trade-off between offspring care and territory defence in banded mongoose societies. However, carers and non-carers show a differential physiological response to territorial intrusion, suggesting that there may be a more subtle behavioural trade-off that occurs post-intrusion. In chapter 6, I find evidence for consistent individual differences in both cooperative and competitive behaviours, which suggests that individual differences in adult behaviour may be determined by early-life effects. Individual differences in cooperative investment are positively correlated, suggesting that individuals are not specialised to different cooperative activities, but are consistently either helpful or selfish. Together, these results give insights into the selection pressures shaping individual differences and highlight endocrine research as a valuable tool in understanding the evolution of cooperative societies.
- Published
- 2012
26. Individual and demographic consequences of mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses.
- Author
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Thompson, Faye J., Marshall, Harry H., Vitikainen, Emma I.K., Young, Andrew J., and Cant, Michael A.
- Subjects
- *
BANDED mongoose , *ANIMAL societies , *ANIMAL social behavior , *MUNGOS , *ANIMAL behavior , *HERPESTIDAE - Abstract
In animal societies, conflict within groups can result in eviction, where individuals are often permanently expelled from their group. To understand the evolution of eviction and its role in the resolution of within-group conflict requires information on the demographic consequences of eviction for individuals and groups. However, such information is usually difficult to obtain because of the difficulty in tracking and monitoring individuals after they are evicted from their natal groups. Here we used a 15-year data set on life history and demography to investigate the consequences of eviction in a tractable cooperatively breeding mammal, the banded mongoose, Mungos mungo . In this species, groups of individuals are periodically evicted en masse and eviction is a primary mechanism by which new groups form in the study population. Following eviction, we found sex differences in dispersal distance: some females established new groups on the study peninsula but males always dispersed away from the study peninsula. Evicted females suffered reduced reproductive success in the year after eviction. For the evicting group, eviction was associated with increased per capita reproductive success for females, suggesting that eviction is successful in reducing reproductive competition. However, eviction was also associated with increased intergroup conflict for the evicting group. Our results suggest that within-group conflict resolution strategies affect group productivity, group interactions and the structure of the population, and hence have fitness impacts that reach beyond the individual evictors and evictees involved in eviction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
27. Causes and consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative banded mongooses.
- Author
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Thompson, Faye J., Marshall, Harry H., Vitikainen, Emma I.K., and Cant, Michael A.
- Subjects
- *
MONGOOSES , *INTERGROUP relations , *SOCIAL evolution in animals , *CHIMPANZEE behavior , *BANDED mongoose - Abstract
Conflict between groups is a notable feature of many animal societies. Recent theoretical models suggest that violent intergroup conflict can shape patterns of within-group cooperation. However, despite its prevalence in social species, the adaptive significance of violent intergroup conflict has been little explored outside of humans and chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes . A barrier to current understanding of the role of intergroup conflict in the evolution of social behaviour is a lack of information on the causes and consequences of aggression between groups. Here, we examined the causes and fitness consequences of intergroup conflict in the banded mongoose, Mungos mungo , using a 16-year data set of observed intergroup interactions, life history and behaviour. Banded mongooses are cooperative breeders that live in highly territorial groups and engage in frequent, aggressive and violent intergroup interactions. We found that intensified population-wide competition for food and mates increased the probability of intergroup interactions, and that increased intergroup conflict was associated with periods in which groups were growing in size. Intergroup conflict had fitness costs in terms of reduced litter and adult survival but no cost to pregnant females: in fact, females were less likely to abort following an intergroup interaction than when there had been no recent intergroup conflict. Our results suggest that intergroup conflict has measurable costs to both individuals and groups in the long and short term, and that levels of conflict among groups could be high enough to affect patterns of within-group cooperative behaviour. Establishing the consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative species can shed light on patterns of conflict and cooperation within groups and, in turn, facilitate our understanding of social evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
28. The origins of consistent individual differences in cooperation in wild banded mongooses, Mungos mungo.
- Author
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Sanderson, Jennifer L., Stott, Iain, Young, Andrew J., Vitikainen, Emma I.K., Hodge, Sarah J., and Cant, Michael A.
- Subjects
- *
INDIVIDUAL differences , *BANDED mongoose , *PHENOTYPES , *ANIMAL societies , *ECOLOGICAL niche , *ANIMAL social behavior , *ANIMAL behavior - Abstract
Individual differences in contributions to cooperation can be strikingly consistent over time giving rise to alternative cooperative phenotypes within animal societies. Following the social niche specialization hypothesis, these consistent differences may be driven by social conflict over reproductive opportunities if individuals specializing as ‘breeders’ and ‘nonbreeders’ experience a beneficial reduction in social conflict and differential costs associated with cooperating. This hypothesis gives three testable predictions: (1) consistent individual differences in cooperative behaviour will be accompanied by consistent individual differences in reproductive behaviour, (2) individuals contributing heavily to reproduction will contribute relatively little to cooperative behaviours within the same breeding attempt and vice versa, and (3) individuals that consistently contribute heavily to reproduction over their lifetime will also consistently contribute less to cooperative behaviours and vice versa. We tested these predictions with a 15-year investigation into the lifetime patterns of mate guarding and two forms of cooperative offspring care (‘babysitting’ and ‘escorting’) in a wild population of banded mongooses. We found significant repeatability of individual contributions to both cooperative behaviours, as well as significant repeatability of individual levels of mate guarding. However, we found no evidence of negative covariance between contributions to cooperative and reproductive behaviours either within breeding attempts or across lifetimes. This suggests that the observed consistent individual differences in both cooperative behaviour and reproduction are not associated; there is no evidence of a trade-off between reproduction and cooperation. However, we found a significant positive covariance between babysitting and escorting when estimated both within breeding attempts and across lifetimes, which suggests that some group members are generally more cooperative than others, contributing more to both behaviours over their lifetimes. The drivers of this consistent individual variation in contributions to cooperation remain unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
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29. Food availability shapes patterns of helping effort in a cooperative mongoose
- Author
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Nichols, Hazel J., Amos, William, Bell, Matthew B.V., Mwanguhya, Francis, Kyabulima, Solomon, and Cant, Michael A.
- Subjects
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MONGOOSES , *ANIMAL societies , *ANIMAL breeding , *ANIMAL behavior , *ANIMAL species , *FOOD supply , *ANIMAL feeding behavior , *REPRODUCTION - Abstract
In cooperatively breeding vertebrate societies, contributions to offspring care can vary greatly between group members. Kin selection theory predicts that cooperation will be favoured when directed towards relatives and when the cost to benefit ratio is low. The fitness costs of helping in turn depend on the impact of energetic investments in care on future reproductive success, which is likely to vary between helpers. For example, investments may impact more on a young helper, which needs to invest energy in growth and is an inexperienced forager. We investigated how a key predictor of cost, food availability (estimated using rainfall), influences helping behaviour in the banded mongoose, Mungos mungo. In this cooperative carnivore, a variable number of group members breed while almost all help to rear the communal litter. Nonbreeding females and juvenile males helped less when food was scarce, reflecting the potentially high costs of weight loss and reduced growth on survival and future reproductive success. In contrast, adult males maintained their investment in care as food supply decreased, probably because body condition has relatively little impact on male reproductive success in this species. Breeding females (with pups in the communal litter) also maintained their helping effort as food supply decreased. Although mothers invested highly in care, there was no evidence that they preferentially cared for their own pups, probably because synchronized birthing scrambles maternity cues. Patterns of care in the banded mongoose thus seem to reflect the benefits gained from helping and the long-term fitness costs to the helper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2012
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