Kinship and Incest Avoidance Drive Patterns of Reproductive Skew in Cooperatively Breeding Birds

2017 ◽  
Vol 190 (6) ◽  
pp. 774-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Riehl
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Reproductive Skew ◽  
Incest Avoidance ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding

scholarly journals Sex Allocation Patterns across Cooperatively Breeding Birds Do Not Support Predictions of the Repayment Hypothesis

2017 ◽  
Vol 190 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nyil Khwaja ◽  
Ben J. Hatchwell ◽  
Robert P. Freckleton ◽  
Jonathan P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Breeding Birds ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Allocation Patterns

scholarly journals The determinants of dominance relationships among subordinate females in the cooperatively breeding meerkat

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.K. Thavarajah ◽  
M. Fenkes ◽  
T.H. Clutton-Brock
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Reproductive Skew ◽  
Breeding Female ◽  
Suricata Suricatta ◽  
Dominance Relationships ◽  
Dominance Structure ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Group Members

In cooperatively breeding species with high reproductive skew, a single breeding female is dominant to all other group members, but it is not yet known if there are consistent dominance relationships among subordinates. In this study on meerkats (Suricata suricatta), we used naturally observed dominance assertions and submissive interactions within dyads of subordinate females to investigate: (i) whether or not a dominance structure exists among them and what factors influence dominance relationships; and (ii) how dominance may influence the future reproductive success of subordinate females. Our study indicates that superiority in age and weight provide a competitive advantage during conflicts among subordinate females and that females who consistently dominate in these contests are subsequently more likely to attain a dominant breeding position. This provides a starting point for further investigations into dominance structure among subordinates in meerkat societies and other cooperative breeders.

Colony structure and parentage in wild colonies of co-operatively breeding Damaraland mole-rats suggest incest avoidance alone may not maintain reproductive skew

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2371-2379 ◽  
Author(s):  
TAMSIN M. BURLAND ◽  
NIGEL C. BENNETT ◽  
JENNIFER U. M. JARVIS ◽  
CHRISTOPHER G. FAULKES
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Skew ◽  
Colony Structure ◽  
Incest Avoidance

scholarly journals Inclusive-fitness logic of cooperative breeding with benefits of natal philopatry

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1642) ◽  
pp. 20130361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Wild ◽  
Cody Koykka
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Life History ◽  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Reproductive Skew ◽  
Natal Philopatry ◽  
Evolutionary Transition ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding

In cooperatively breeding species, individuals help to raise offspring that are not their own. We use two inclusive-fitness models to study the advantage of this kind of helpful behaviour in social groups with high reproductive skew. Our first model does not allow for competition among relatives to occur but our second model does. Specifically, our second model assumes a competitive hierarchy among nest-mates, with non-breeding helpers ranked higher than their newborn siblings. For each model, we obtain an expression for the change in inclusive fitness experienced by a helpful individual in a selfish population. The prediction suggested by each expression is confirmed with computer simulation. When model predictions are compared to one another, we find that helping emerges under a broader range of conditions in the second model. Although competition among kin occurs in our second model, we conclude that the life-history features associated with this competition also act to promote the evolutionary transition from solitary to cooperative breeding.

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