Allo-parental care in Damaraland mole-rats is female biased and age dependent, though independent of testosterone levels

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dc.contributor.author Zottl, Markus
dc.contributor.author Vullioud, Philippe
dc.contributor.author Goddard, Katy
dc.contributor.author Torrents-Tico, Miquel
dc.contributor.author Gaynor, David
dc.contributor.author Bennett, Nigel Charles
dc.contributor.author Clutton-Brock, Tim H.
dc.date.accessioned 2018-09-11T12:55:01Z
dc.date.issued 2018-09
dc.description.abstract In Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis), non-breeding subordinates contribute to the care of offspring born to the breeding pair in their group by carrying and retrieving young to the nest. In social mole-rats and some cooperative breeders, dominant females show unusually high testosterone levels and it has been suggested that high testosterone levels may increase reproductive and aggressive behavior and reduce investment in allo-parental and parental care, generating age and state-dependent variation in behavior. Here we show that, in Damaraland mole-rats, allo-parental care in males and females is unaffected by experimental increases in testosterone levels. Pup carrying decreases with age of the non-breeding helper while the change in social status from non-breeder to breeder has contrasting effects in the two sexes. Female breeders were more likely than female non-breeders to carry pups but male breeders were less likely to carry pups than male non-breeders, increasing the sex bias in parental care compared to allo-parental care. Our results indicate that testosterone is unlikely to be an important regulator of allo-parental care in mole-rats. en_ZA
dc.description.department Mammal Research Institute en_ZA
dc.description.department Zoology and Entomology en_ZA
dc.description.embargo 2019-09-01
dc.description.librarian hj2018 en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorship A European Research Council grant to TCB (294494) and a Jacobs foundation grant to MZ. en_ZA
dc.description.uri https://www.elsevier.com/locate/physbeh en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Zöttl, M., Vullioud, P., Goddard, K. et al. 2018, 'Allo-parental care in Damaraland mole-rats is female biased and age dependent, though independent of testosterone levels', Physiology and Behavior, vol. 193, part A, pp. 149-153. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 0031-9384 (print)
dc.identifier.issn 1873-507X (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.03.021
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/66525
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher Elsevier en_ZA
dc.rights © 2018 Published by Elsevier Inc. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Physiology and Behavior. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. A definitive version was subsequently published in Physiology and Behavior, vol. 193, part A, pp. 149-153, 2018. doi : 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.03.021. en_ZA
dc.subject Testosterone en_ZA
dc.subject Allo-parental care en_ZA
dc.subject Parental care en_ZA
dc.subject Sex bias en_ZA
dc.subject Age related polyethism en_ZA
dc.subject Damaraland mole-rat (Fukomys damarensis) en_ZA
dc.title Allo-parental care in Damaraland mole-rats is female biased and age dependent, though independent of testosterone levels en_ZA
dc.type Postprint Article en_ZA


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