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Low costs of allonursing in meerkats: mitigation by behavioral change?

MacLeod, K. J. ; Clutton-Brock, T. H.

Behavioral ecology, 2015-05, Vol.26 (3), p.697-705 [Periódico revisado por pares]

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  • Título:
    Low costs of allonursing in meerkats: mitigation by behavioral change?
  • Autor: MacLeod, K. J. ; Clutton-Brock, T. H.
  • É parte de: Behavioral ecology, 2015-05, Vol.26 (3), p.697-705
  • Notas: ObjectType-Article-1
    SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
    ObjectType-Feature-2
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  • Descrição: Lay Summary We investigate the costs of allonursing (the nursing of another female's offspring) and whether these costs may be mitigated by behavioral change. Allonursing is assumed to impose a substantial energetic cost given the high cost of lactation to mothers. However, these costs have not previously been quantified. We show that in meerkats, the costs of allonursing appear to be small, possibly because allonurses mitigate the costs of allonursing by foraging at a higher rate during lactation.Allonursing, the nursing of another female's offspring, is assumed to impose a substantial energetic cost given the high cost of lactation to mothers. However, these costs have not been quantified. In cooperatively breeding mammals where helpers contribute to lactation, they might be expected to modify their behavior to mitigate these potential costs. Here, we show that overnight weight loss during lactation did not differ between allonurses and controls. However, meerkat helpers that allonursed do not gain weight over a reproductive bout as non-allonursing subordinate females did, suggesting that allonurses may incur some cost. Allonurses may mitigate the costs by increasing foraging effort during lactation. Allonurses do not, as expected, reduce investment in other cooperative behaviors during lactation. We suggest that the increase in cooperative behavior, including allonursing, may serve a social function, but further work is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
  • Idioma: Inglês
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  • Realização: ABCD-USP USP   Logos de Redes Sociais: Freepik

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