Sociality and reproductive tactics in ground-dwelling squirrels: conflict and cooperation

地栖松鼠的社会性和繁殖策略：冲突与合作

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-04362
• 负责人: Waterman, Jane
• 金额: $ 2.33万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=631969
• 关键词: Sociality; reproductive; tactics; ground; dwelling

Why some animals are social and others are not is a major area of research in animal behaviour. Although individuals in groups can benefit from collective detection of predators or helping each other raise offspring, they also incur increased costs, such as more competition for food or mates and the loss of reproductive opportunities. My research program focuses on understanding the evolution of sociality by examining these costs and benefits. In complex animal societies, females usually live with their close kin but these close kin are also their closest competitors. Reproduction in such groups is not equally distributed and success is often determined by dominance or aggression. Less is known about the factors influencing reproductive distribution in egalitarian societies that do not use aggressive means of competing for resources, even when we observe unequal reproductive success. We will test hypotheses related to the factors that influence female reproductive success in a species with what appears to be an egalitarian social system (all adults breed and there is no dominance hierarchy), but where some females wean far more offspring than others. While females may compete for resources, males are predicted to compete for mates via sexual selection. First described by Darwin, sexual selection includes one sex directly competing to gain access to another or mate choice by one sex. Such competition or choice can lead to adaptations including large antlers and brightly coloured feathers. However, if a female mates with more than a single male, then competition can also occur in the reproductive tract of the female. Thus we seek to understand more than just the visible results of sexual selection (e.g. peacock's tail), as copulations alone do not ensure fertilization. We will examine specific differences in the morphology and functioning of sperm and other reproductive structures under different social situations. Understanding differences in sperm form and function among males may be the ultimate key to understanding reproductive success, yet few studies have investigated these differences. We will test critical hypotheses about the evolution of social behaviour, reproduction, and sexual selection in solitary and social, free-ranging ground squirrels, particularly the social African ground squirrel (

为什么有些动物是社会性的，而有些不是，这是动物行为研究的一个主要领域。虽然群体中的个体可以从集体发现捕食者或互相帮助抚养后代中受益，但他们也会增加成本，例如更多的食物或配偶竞争以及生殖机会的丧失。我的研究项目侧重于通过研究这些成本和收益来理解社会性的演变。在复杂的动物社会中，雌性通常与近亲生活在一起，但这些近亲也是它们最亲密的竞争对手。在这些群体中，生殖并不是平均分配的，成功往往取决于支配地位或侵略性。在不使用侵略性手段竞争资源的平等主义社会中，即使我们观察到不平等的生殖成功，对影响生殖分布的因素知之甚少。我们将测试与影响女性生殖成功的因素相关的假设，这些因素似乎是一个平等的社会体系（所有成年人都能繁殖，没有统治等级），但有些女性比其他女性断奶的后代要多得多。虽然女性可能会争夺资源，男性预计将通过性选择竞争配偶。首先由达尔文描述的是，性选择包括一种性别直接竞争获得另一种性别或一种性别的配偶选择。这样的竞争或选择可以导致适应，包括大鹿角和鲜艳的羽毛。然而，如果一个雌性与一个以上的雄性交配，那么竞争也会发生在雌性的生殖道中。因此，我们试图了解的不仅仅是性选择的可见结果（例如孔雀的尾巴），因为交配本身并不能确保受精。我们将研究在不同的社会情况下精子和其他生殖结构的形态和功能的具体差异。了解男性之间精子形式和功能的差异可能是了解生殖成功的最终关键，但很少有研究调查这些差异。我们将测试关于社会行为，繁殖和性选择的进化的关键假设，在孤独和社会，自由放养的地松鼠，特别是社会非洲地松鼠（