Special reading - counter intuitive behaviour -1 - supressing subordinates in meerkats Flashcards

1
Q

who wrote the paper?

A

Bell et al (2014)

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2
Q

what are the hypotheses?

A

when dominant females successfully supress subordinate reproduction fitness of the dominants offspring increases

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3
Q

what is the aim of the paper?

A

to understand the evolutionary paradox of eusociality by explaining the benefits of extreme reproductive inequality within stable societies - paper hopes to understand the fitness benefits to dominant meerkats when they supress subordinates

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4
Q

how did the experiment simulate subordinate suppression?

A
  • used contraceptive injections to prevent subordinate reproduction in a long term study
  • in year 1 in six treated groups all subordinate females over 180 days old were injected (n=35)
  • in 6 control groups all subordinate females (n=38) were injected with an equivalent volume of saline solution
  • in year 2 - control and treatment groups were swapped and protocol repeated
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5
Q

how did they measure benefits to dominant from supressed subordinate reproduction?

A
  • individuals were tagged for identification- meerkats were trained to step on scales and weight was measured throughout experiment (twice a week)
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6
Q

how did they observe the meerkats throughout the experiment?

A

visited the group twice per week: collected behavioural data, recorded group composition and weighted meerkats
- every week focal watches were done on dominant females to monitor aggression towards subordinates

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7
Q

in treated groups what were the results for how the behaviour of the dominants changed?

A

aggression towards subordinates decreased

dominants more tolerant of treated subordinates and less likely to evict them

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8
Q

what changed in the treated groups?

A
  • Ratios of helper to pups increased in treated groups (less subordinate females were evicted + less kids born)
  • Dominant females in treated groups captured more food per minute
  • Pups born to dominant females in treated groups were heavier when they first emerged from burrows +grew faster
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9
Q

Meaning of results

A
  • results prove that dominants are selected to suppress subordinate breeding because it reduces dominant fitness
  • subordinates represent a resource, which is depleted when they attempt to breed
  • Results also indicate the cost of subordinate repression behaviour for dominant females
  • this is shown by dominants increased foraging success, gestational weight gain and pup emergence weight in treated groups.
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