Motherless quail mothers display impaired maternal behavior and produce more fearful and less socially motivated offspring

Abstract

Early maternal deprivation impairs the behavioral development of young individuals. Recently, strong differences between mothered and maternally deprived chicks have been reported concerning their emotionality, sociality, and spatial skills. Here we investigated long-term and cross-generational impacts of maternal deprivation by comparing the characteristics of the non-reproductive and the maternal behavior of 22 mothered and 22 non-mothered adult female Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica) and by comparing the behavior of their respective fostered chicks. We reveal that non-brooded mothers were more fearful and less competent in spatial tasks and expressed impaired maternal care, characterized by more aggression towards chicks, higher activity rates, and more abnormal pacing during the first days of the care period. Chicks' behavior was clearly affected by maternal care inducing strong differences in their fearfulness and social motivation. Our results show both long-term and cross-generational impacts of early maternal deprivation in precocial birds.

Precocial bird mothers shape sex differences in the behavior of their chicks

“…To assess the reactions of NB and B chicks to separation respectively from cagemate or from mother and cagemate, latencies to take first step was noted, as well as numbers of steps and distress calls. Chicks' general activity in this familiar environment is considered to reflect their reaction to separation from cagemate and the strength of filial bond in the case of brooded chicks (Cate, ; Pittet et al, in press).…”

“…By comparing behavioral characteristics of Japanese quail chicks reared in complete maternal deprivation and those of chicks adopted by foster mothers, several authors illustrated the fundamental role of mothers on behavioral ontogeny. They have evidenced maternal influence on a range of behaviors (Bertin and Richard‐Yris, ; De Margerie et al, ; Pittet et al, in press), including fearfulness (Bertin and Richard‐Yris, ; Richard‐Yris et al, ) and sociality (Bertin and Richard‐Yris, ; Formanek et al, ). Consequently, we hypothesized that quail mothers influenced the emergence of sex differences.…”

Maternal presence influences vocal development in the Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica)

“…It is very likely that the mother induced vocal changes through both short‐ and long‐term influences on the behavioural phenotype of her young. In Japanese quail, mothered birds are more sensitive to social separation at young age (Bertin & Richard‐Yris, ) and adulthood (Pittet et al, ). Thus, the context of social isolation in our study may have led to an increased level of stress in mothered chicks.…”

“…Many studies based on a maternal deprivation paradigm in quails have already highlighted the non‐genetic role of the mother on the young's social motivation (Bertin & Richard‐Yris, ), emotivity (Pittet, Le Bot, Houdelier, Richard‐Yris, & Lumineau, ), spatial skills (de Margerie et al, ) and rhythmicity (Formanek, Richard‐Yris, Houdelier, & Lumineau, ). In our study, we did not examine vocal similarity between mother and chicks, but we aim to explore the maternal influences on vocal development in chicks of the Japanese quail, a species traditionally considered as a non‐vocal learner.…”

Chronic social instability in adult female rats alters social behavior, maternal aggression and offspring development

“…Variations in maternal care are known to have profound consequences on the behavioral development of offspring, particularly concerning social behavior (Pittet, Le Bot, Houdelier, Richard-Yris, & Lumineau, 2014b; Schino, Speranza, & Troisi, 2001; Spokas & Heimberg, 2008). Nevertheless, if slight differences in maternal care might have been undetected by our maternal behavior observation procedure, such discrete differences are unlikely to have mediated the transgenerational consequence of the chronic social instability procedure.…”