Do mothers prefer helpers? Birth sex-ratio adjustment in captive callitrichines

Rapaport, Lisa G.; Kloc, Briana; Warneke, Mark; Mickelberg, Jennifer; Ballou, Jonathan D.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.03.018

Cited by 7 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Furthermore, other factors may contribute to population‐level male bias seen here (i.e., Silk and Brown ; Rapaport et al. ), for instance greater potential fitness returns from sons, who, in the wild at least, have more opportunities for extra‐group mating than subordinate daughters who are reproductively suppressed by the dominant female in a group (Ziegler et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite a lack of support for the HR hypothesis, Rapaport et al. () did find that in the twinning species, L. rosalia , the sex ratio in singleton births was 65% male compared to 55% in twin litters. They suggest the population‐level male bias results from in utero litter size reduction which is instigated by male fetuses (at the expense of female litter mates).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although Silk and Brown () found support for the helper repayment hypothesis in primates, their meta‐analysis only considered population sex ratio biases. Recently, Rapaport et al (), Kloc, Warneke, Mickelberg, and Ballou () considered how factors such as mother's age and group size might affect sex allocation strategies at the individual level in two cooperatively breeding captive primate species, golden lion tamarins ( Leontopithecus rosalia ) and callimicos ( Callimico goeldii ) which typically produce twin and singleton litters, respectively. Although they showed that group size does influence offspring survival, they did not find any adaptive response in terms of sex allocation within species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An additional aim of the current study was to test whether litter size modification might interact with birth sex ratio, for instance, if, as Rapaport et al. () propose, there is sex‐biased reabsorption of fetuses or if one fetus is competitively superior in utero (and this competitive superiority is also sex‐biased; Jaquish et al. ; Tardif and Jaquish ; Rapaport et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Tardif and Jaquish ; Rapaport et al. ). We will also investigate whether females vary their litter size depending on environmental and life‐history variables (such as parity, age, and group size) which provide reliable information on likely infant survival (Tardif et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do mothers prefer helpers or smaller litters? Birth sex ratio and litter size adjustment in cotton‐top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Boulton

Fletcher

2015

Ecology and Evolution

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Sex allocation theory has been a remarkably productive field in behavioral ecology with empirical evidence regularly supporting quantitative theoretical predictions. Across mammals in general and primates in particular, however, support for the various hypotheses has been more equivocal. Population-level sex ratio biases have often been interpreted as supportive, but evidence for small-scale facultative adjustment has rarely been found. The helper repayment (HR) also named the local resource enhancement (LRE) hypothesis predicts that, in cooperatively breeding species, mothers invest more in the sex which assists with rearing future offspring and that this bias will be more pronounced in mothers who require extra assistance (i.e., due to inexperience or a lack of available alloparents). We tested these hypotheses in captive cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) utilizing the international studbook and birth records obtained through a questionnaire from ISIS-registered institutions. Infant sex, litter size, mother's age, parity, and group composition (presence of nonreproductive subordinate males and females) were determined from these records. The HR hypothesis was supported over the entire population, which was significantly biased toward males (the “helpful” sex). We found little support for helper repayment at the individual level, as primiparous females and those in groups without alloparents did not exhibit more extreme tendencies to produce male infants. Primiparous females were, however, more likely to produce singleton litters. Singleton births were more likely to be male, which suggests that there may be an interaction between litter size adjustment and sex allocation. This may be interpreted as supportive of the HR hypothesis, but alternative explanations at both the proximate and ultimate levels are possible. These possibilities warrant further consideration when attempting to understand the ambiguous results of primate sex ratio studies so far.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do mothers prefer helpers or smaller litters? Birth sex ratio and litter size adjustment in cotton‐top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Boulton

Fletcher

2015

Ecology and Evolution

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A comparative study of litter size and sex composition in a large dataset of callitrichine monkeys

McCoy

Frye

Kotler

et al. 2019

American J Primatol

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In many birds and mammals, the size and sex composition of litters can have important downstream effects for individual offspring. Primates are model organisms for questions of cooperation and conflict, but the factors shaping interactions among same-age siblings have been less-studied in primates because most species bear single young. However, callitrichines (marmosets, tamarins, and lion tamarins) frequently bear litters of two or more, thereby providing the opportunity to ask whether variation in the size and sex composition of litters affects development, survival, and reproduction. To investigate these questions, we compiled a large dataset of nine species of callitrichines (n = 27,080 individuals; Callithrix geoffroyi,

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Sex allocation and secondary sex ratio in Cuban boa (Chilabothrus angulifer): mother’s body size affects the ratio between sons and daughters

Frynta

Vejvodová

Šimková

2016

Sci Nat

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Secondary sex ratios of animals with genetically determined sex may considerably deviate from equality. These deviations may be attributed to several proximate and ultimate factors. Sex ratio theory explains some of them as strategic decisions of mothers improving their fitness by selective investment in sons or daughters, e.g. local resource competition hypothesis (LRC) suggests that philopatric females tend to produce litters with male-biased sex ratios to avoid future competition with their daughters. Until now, only little attention has been paid to examine predictions of sex ratio theory in snakes possessing genetic sex determination and exhibiting large variance in allocation of maternal investment. Cuban boa is an endemic viviparous snake producing large-bodied newborns (∼200 g). Extremely high maternal investment in each offspring increases importance of sex allocation. In a captive colony, we collected breeding records of 42 mothers, 62 litters and 306 newborns and examined secondary sex ratios (SR) and sexual size dimorphism (SSD) of newborns. None of the examined morphometric traits of neonates appeared sexually dimorphic. The sex ratio was slightly male biased (174 males versus 132 females) and litter sex ratio significantly decreased with female snout-vent length. We interpret this relationship as an additional support for LRC as competition between mothers and daughters increases with similarity of body sizes between competing snakes.

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Do mothers prefer helpers? Birth sex-ratio adjustment in captive callitrichines

Cited by 7 publications

References 41 publications

Do mothers prefer helpers or smaller litters? Birth sex ratio and litter size adjustment in cotton‐top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Do mothers prefer helpers or smaller litters? Birth sex ratio and litter size adjustment in cotton‐top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

A comparative study of litter size and sex composition in a large dataset of callitrichine monkeys

Sex allocation and secondary sex ratio in Cuban boa (Chilabothrus angulifer): mother’s body size affects the ratio between sons and daughters

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