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Drea, C.M. orcid.org/0000-0002-3750-3344, Davies, C.S. orcid.org/0000-0001-9030-7820, Greene, L.K. orcid.org/0000-0002-7693-8826 et al. (7 more authors) (2021) An intergenerational androgenic mechanism of female intrasexual competition in the cooperatively breeding meerkat. Nature Communications, 12. 7332. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
Female intrasexual competition can be intense in cooperatively breeding species, with some dominant breeders (matriarchs) limiting reproduction in subordinates via aggression, eviction or infanticide. In males, such tendencies bidirectionally link to testosterone, but in females, there has been little systematic investigation of androgen-mediated behaviour within and across generations. In 22 clans of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta), we show that matriarchs 1) express peak androgen concentrations during late gestation, 2) when displaying peak feeding competition, dominance behaviour, and evictions, and 3) relative to subordinates, produce offspring that are more aggressive in early development. Late-gestation antiandrogen treatment of matriarchs 4) specifically reduces dominance behaviour, is associated with infrequent evictions, decreases social centrality within the clan, 5) increases aggression in cohabiting subordinate dams, and 6) reduces offspring aggression. These effects implicate androgen-mediated aggression in the operation of female sexual selection, and intergenerational transmission of masculinised phenotypes in the evolution of meerkat cooperative breeding.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2021. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Feces; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Animals, Wild; Herpestidae; Flutamide; Androgen Antagonists; Androgens; Breeding; Aggression; Competitive Behavior; Cooperative Behavior; Pregnancy; Parturition; Female; Male; Sexual Behavior; Animal |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (Leeds) > Nuffield Centre for International Health and Development (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 Feb 2024 10:59 |
Last Modified: | 16 Feb 2024 10:59 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Research |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41467-021-27496-x |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209224 |
Available Versions of this Item
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A heritable androgenic mechanism of female intrasexual competition in cooperatively breeding meerkats. (deposited 16 Feb 2024 10:33)
- An intergenerational androgenic mechanism of female intrasexual competition in the cooperatively breeding meerkat. (deposited 16 Feb 2024 10:59) [Currently Displayed]