LTREB RENEWAL: Fitness consequences of pleiotropic androgen effects in free-living mammals

目前了解的长期影响产前激素暴露对后代的健身在自然种群是非常有限的，特别是在胎生物种。这项拟议中的研究调查了一种长寿的哺乳动物食肉动物斑点鬣狗产前雄激素暴露的健康后果。肯尼亚的野生鬣狗进行了研究，以记录早期雄激素暴露的自然发生的变化的相关性和后果。在怀孕期间雄激素浓度已知的母亲所生的幼崽被跟踪到成年，以测试一个假设，该假设表明雄激素诱导的幼崽行为和形态的变化与适应性的变化有关。另外两个相互竞争的假设也进行了评估，每一个都表明不同程度的对立激素的影响可能会限制适应性进化。这项工作将允许在长寿的哺乳动物中进行独特的综合研究，从子宫中的诱导到自然种群中的后果。这对于更广泛地了解产前雄激素暴露在行为和形态变异产生中的作用以及雄激素在哺乳动物生活史进化中所起的作用将是重要的。这项研究跨越学科界限，为美国学生提供独特且极具价值的国际培训机会。这项工作还培训肯尼亚学生，并支持研究地点附近当地小学的马赛学生。此外，项目人员与美国和国外的公共媒体密切合作，维护一个教育网站，每年为普通观众举办许多讲座。最后，通过一个门户网站，这项研究提供给其他研究人员和一般公众的核心数据表在一个数据库中，文件鬣狗的行为，人口统计学和生理学在研究网站自1988年以来。该项目由动物行为计划和国际科学与工程联合支持。

Current understanding of the long-term effects of prenatal hormone exposure on offspring fitness in natural populations is extremely limited, particularly in viviparous species. The proposed research investigates the fitness consequences of prenatal androgen exposure in a long-lived mammalian carnivore, the spotted hyena. Wild hyenas are studied in Kenya to document correlates and consequences of naturally-occurring variation in early androgen exposure. Cubs born to mothers with known concentrations of androgens during pregnancy are followed into adulthood to test a hypothesis suggesting that androgen-induced variation in cub behavior and morphology is associated with variation in fitness. Two other competing hypotheses are also evaluated, each suggesting different extents to which opposing hormone effects might constrain adaptive evolution. This work will permit uniquely integrated study in long-lived mammals of the development of hormonally-induced traits, from their induction in the womb to their consequences in natural populations. It will be important for understanding more broadly the role of prenatal androgen exposure in the generation of variation in behavior and morphology, and the role played by androgens in the evolution of mammalian life histories. This research crosses disciplinary boundaries and offers unique and highly valuable international training opportunities for American students. The work also trains Kenyan students, and supports Masai students in local elementary schools near the study site. In addition, project personnel work closely with the public media in the USA and abroad, maintain an educational website, and give many lectures each year to lay audiences. Finally, via a web portal this research makes available to other researchers and the general public core data tables in a database that documents hyena behavior, demography, and physiology at the study site since 1988. This project is jointly supported by the Animal Behavior Program and International Science and Engineering.