Behavioural tactics of breeders in cooperative meerkats
Behavioural tactics of breeders in cooperative meerkats
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DOI：
10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.10.024
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发表时间：
2004-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Sharpe, LL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Clutton-Brock, TH;Russell, AF;Sharpe, LL
在群居无脊椎动物中，蚁后通常表现出形态和行为上的改变，改变了它们作为群体中主要繁殖者的角色。在合作脊椎动物中，除了裸鼠以外，繁殖者的形态改变还没有表现出来，但优势个体的行为可能会被改变，以获得最大的繁殖成功。我们研究了猫鼬(Suricata Suricatta)中优势成虫和从属成虫的合作行为，发现支配优势繁殖者贡献的决策规则与从属帮助者的不同。优势繁殖者在照看孩子和喂养幼崽方面的贡献低于成年助手，但当助手与幼崽的比例较低时，它们在照顾幼崽方面的个人贡献更大。与下属相比，优势繁殖者在成功觅食时不会增加自己的贡献。最后，当优势种繁殖时，两性的下级都会帮助抚养幼崽，但当下级尝试繁殖时，优势雌性的贡献很小，而雄性助手(而不是雌性)减少了它们对幼崽的照顾。我们的结果表明，猫鼬繁殖者和帮助者之间的分工介于兼性合作物种和特殊社会物种之间，前者主要负责育苗，后者表明繁殖者和工蚁之间有明确的分工。(C)2004年，动物行为研究协会。爱思唯尔有限公司出版。保留所有权利。
In eusocial invertebrates, queens commonly show morphological and behavioural modifications to their role as the principal breeders in their colonies. With the exception of naked mole-rats, Heterocephalus glaber, morphological modification of breeders has yet to be shown in cooperative vertebrates, but the behaviour of dominant individuals may be modified so as to maximize reproductive success. We studied the cooperative behaviour of dominant and subordinate adults in meerkats, Suricata suricatta, and found that the decision rules governing the contributions of dominant breeders differed from those of subordinate helpers. Dominant breeders contributed less than adult helpers to babysitting and pup feeding, but raised their individual contributions to pup care to a greater extent when helper:pup ratios were low. In contrast to subordinates, dominant breeders did not increase their contributions when they foraged successfully. Finally, while subordinates of both sexes assisted in rearing the young when dominants bred, dominant females contributed little when subordinates attempted to breed, and male helpers (but not females) reduced their contributions to the care of pups. Our results suggest that the division of labour between breeders and helpers in meerkats is intermediate between that of facultatively cooperative species, where parents are principally responsible for rearing young, and that of specialized eusocial species, which show a well-defined division of labour between breeders and workers. (C) 2004 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.