dc.contributor.author |
Dantzer, Ben
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Dubuc, Constance
|
|
dc.contributor.author |
Goncalves, Ines Braga
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Cram, Dominic L.
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Bennett, Nigel Charles
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Ganswindt, Andre
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Heistermann, Michael
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Duncan, Chris
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Gaynor, David
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|
dc.contributor.author |
Clutton-Brock, Tim H.
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|
dc.date.accessioned |
2019-10-04T09:58:29Z |
|
dc.date.available |
2019-10-04T09:58:29Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2019-02 |
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dc.description.abstract |
The phenotype of parents can have long-lasting effects on the development of offspring as well as on their behaviour, physiology and morphology as adults. In some cases, these changes may increase offspring fitness but, in others, they can elevate parental fitness at a cost to the fitness of their offspring. We show that in Kalahari meerkats (Suricata suricatta), the circulating glucocorticoid (GC) hormones of pregnant females affect the growth and cooperative behaviour of their offspring. We performed a 3-year experiment in wild meerkats to test the hypothesis that GC-mediated maternal effects reduce the potential for offspring to reproduce directly and therefore cause them to exhibit more cooperative behaviour. Daughters (but not sons) born to mothers treated with cortisol during pregnancy grew more slowly early in life and exhibited significantly more of two types of cooperative behaviour (pup rearing and feeding) once they were adults compared to offspring from control mothers. They also had lower measures of GCs as they aged, which could explain the observed increases in cooperative behaviour. Because early life growth is a crucial determinant of fitness in female meerkats, our results indicate that GC-mediated maternal effects may reduce the fitness of offspring, but may elevate parental fitness as a consequence of increasing the cooperative behaviour of their daughters. |
en_ZA |
dc.description.department |
Anatomy and Physiology |
en_ZA |
dc.description.department |
Mammal Research Institute |
en_ZA |
dc.description.department |
Zoology and Entomology |
en_ZA |
dc.description.librarian |
hj2019 |
en_ZA |
dc.description.sponsorship |
Grants from National Environment Research Council (RG53472) and the European Research Council (294494) to T.H.C-B. I.B.G. was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 31003A_13676 to M. Manser). NCB was supported by a DST-NRF SARCHl chair of Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology. The KMP has also been financed by the University of Cambridge (T.H.C.-B) and University of Zurich (M. Manser). |
en_ZA |
dc.description.uri |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rstb |
en_ZA |
dc.identifier.citation |
Dantzer, B., Dubuc, C., Goncalves, I.B. et al. 2019, 'The development of individual differences in cooperative behaviour: maternal glucocorticoid hormones alter helping behaviour of offspring in wild meerkats', Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences, vol. 374, no. 1770. |
en_ZA |
dc.identifier.issn |
0962-8436 (print) |
|
dc.identifier.issn |
1471-2970 (online) |
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dc.identifier.other |
10.1098/rstb.2018.0117 |
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dc.identifier.uri |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71572 |
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dc.language.iso |
en |
en_ZA |
dc.publisher |
Royal Society |
en_ZA |
dc.rights |
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Cooperation |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Early life adversity |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Glucocorticoids |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Growth |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Maternal stress |
en_ZA |
dc.subject |
Meerkat (Suricata suricatta) |
en_ZA |
dc.title |
The development of individual differences in cooperative behaviour : maternal glucocorticoid hormones alter helping behaviour of offspring in wild meerkats |
en_ZA |
dc.type |
Postprint Article |
en_ZA |