An experimental examination of the consequences of communal versus solitary breeding on maternal condition and the early postnatal growth and survival of degu, Octodon degus, pups

Ebensperger, Luis A.; Hurtado, María José; León, Cecilia

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.06.004

Cited by 68 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Degus are plurally breeding rodents with communal care, meaning that multiple lactating females share underground nests and rear their litters communally (Ebensperger et al 2002, 2007). Thus, suppression of reproduction does not seem to occur, given that all members of a female group exhibit signs of pregnancy and lactation (Ebensperger et al 2011).…”

Section: Uses Of the Degu As An Animal Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Octodon degus (Molina 1782): A Model in Comparative Biology and Biomedicine

Ardiles

Ewer

Acosta

et al. 2013

Cold Spring Harb Protoc

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One major goal of integrative and comparative biology is to understand and explain the interaction between the performance and behavior of animals in their natural environment. The Caviomorph, Octodon degus, is a native rodent species from Chile, and represents a unique model to study physiological and behavioral traits, including cognitive and sensory abilities. Degus live in colonies and have a well-structured social organization, with a mostly diurnal–crepuscular circadian activity pattern. More notable is the fact that in captivity, they reproduce and live for between 5 and 7 years and exhibit hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer's disease), diabetes, and cancer.

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Section: Uses Of the Degu As An Animal Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Octodon degus (Molina 1782): A Model in Comparative Biology and Biomedicine

Ardiles

Ewer

Acosta

et al. 2013

Cold Spring Harb Protoc

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“…In some cases, alloparenting may seemingly have no direct fitness benefits to mothers (e.g. European badgers, Meles [29]; degus, Octodon degus [30]), but this behaviour can still be beneficial to alloparents through a variety of mechanisms [8]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alloparenting is associated with reduced maternal lactation effort and faster weaning in wild chimpanzees

et al. 2016

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Alloparenting, when individuals other than the mother assist with infant care, can vary between and within populations and has potential fitness costs and benefits for individuals involved. We investigated the effects of alloparenting on the speed with which infants were weaned, a potential component of maternal fitness because of how it can affect inter-birth intervals, in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) at Ngogo, Uganda. We also provide, to our knowledge, the first description of alloparenting in this population and present a novel measure of the contribution of milk to infant diets through faecal stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N). Using 42 mother–infant pairs, we tested associations of two alloparenting dimensions, natal attraction (interest in infants) and infant handling (holding, carrying), to the proportion of time mothers spent feeding and to maternal lactation effort (mean nursing rates and mother–infant δ15N differences). Neither natal attraction nor infant handling was significantly associated with feeding time. Infant handling was inversely associated with both measures of lactation effort, although natal attraction showed no association. Alloparenting may benefit mothers by enabling females to invest in their next offspring sooner through accelerated weaning. Our findings emphasize the significance of alloparenting as a flexible component of female reproductive strategies in some species.

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“…Burrow systems are extensive, involving numerous burrow openings (Hayes et al 2007). Females breed plurally and engage in a number of social activities that inevitably increase contact between mothers and pups including indiscriminately accepting nondescendent young (Ebensperger et al 2007) as well as nursing own and nondescendent offspring (Ebensperger et al 2006; Becker et al 2007). These intimate behaviors likely facilitate opportunities for vertical transmission of contact-transmitted ectoparasites to both descendent and nondescendent young.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These intimate behaviors likely facilitate opportunities for vertical transmission of contact-transmitted ectoparasites to both descendent and nondescendent young. Degus at our site produce one litter per year consisting of five to six offspring (Meserve et al 1984; Ebensperger et al 2007). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sociality, exotic ectoparasites, and fitness in the plural breeding rodent Octodon degus

Burger

Chesh

Muñoz

et al. 2011

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Social animals are susceptible to high infection levels by contact-transmitted parasites due to increased conspecific interaction. Exotic parasites are known to have adverse consequences on native hosts. We examined the relationship between social group size and exotic ectoparasite loads, and adult infection levels with per capita fitness and offspring survival in the plural breeding rodent Octodon degus in central Chile. Degus at our site were almost entirely infected by two exotic ectoparasites: the fleas Leptopsylla segnis and Xenopsylla cheopis. Neither group size nor number of females per group predicted the abundance of either exotic flea species. The per capita number of pups (per capita fitness) that emerged from burrow systems used by known social groups was negatively correlated with abundance of L. segnis but not X. cheopis. On adults, X. cheopis abundance was three times greater than L. segnis but was not significantly correlated with per capita fitness. In females, L. segnis abundance was negatively correlated with peak body mass during pregnancy. Adult ectoparasite load was not correlated with offspring survival. Based on these results, we hypothesize that high infection levels of L. segnis result in decreased reproductive fitness of adult female degus but are not a cost of sociality because parasite loads are not predicted by social group size. Further work is needed to experimentally test this hypothesis and to determine if L. segnis serves as a vector for a deleterious pathogen. Lastly, the lack of native ectoparasites may explain why a previous study at our site determined that behavioral adaptations needed to cope with high ectoparasite burdens (e.g., grooming) are not extensive in degus; they simply have not had the coevolutionary time needed for selection of these behaviors.

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An experimental examination of the consequences of communal versus solitary breeding on maternal condition and the early postnatal growth and survival of degu, Octodon degus, pups

Cited by 68 publications

References 60 publications

Octodon degus (Molina 1782): A Model in Comparative Biology and Biomedicine

Octodon degus (Molina 1782): A Model in Comparative Biology and Biomedicine

Alloparenting is associated with reduced maternal lactation effort and faster weaning in wild chimpanzees

Sociality, exotic ectoparasites, and fitness in the plural breeding rodent Octodon degus

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