Social stress is unlikely to play a major role in reproductive suppression of female subordinate naked mole-rats and Damaraland mole-rats

Abstract

Medger [1] reviewed the mechanisms of reproductive suppression in two eusocial mole-rat species, the naked (Heterocephalus glaber) and Damaraland mole-rat (Fukomys damarensis) with a focus on the interplay of stress, glucocorticoids and reproductive activity in subordinate females. By referring to findings from other group-living mammals such as meerkats (Suricata suricatta) and olive baboons (Papio anubi), Medger suggested that in these mole-rat species female subordinates (non-breeding colony members) are exposed to aggressive behaviours from dominant individuals, namely the queen (sole breeding female), causing elevated glucocorticoid levels, which lead to a block of reproduction. Medger emphasizes the importance of environmental factors and colony stability in regulating stress in both species and extrapolates this to other social mole-rat species.