Nearby grandmother enhances calf survival and reproduction in Asian elephants

Lahdenperä, Mirkka; Mar, Khyne U.; Lummaa, Virpi

doi:10.1038/srep27213

Cited by 73 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(103 reference statements)

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“…Although the actual helping effort is often modest, it may have a major impact on the survival of the offspring [55] or the mother's rate of infant production [19], as confirmed by comparative studies [56,57]. This explains why effective allomaternal help can evolve despite lower relatedness between helpers and offspring, as in non-monogamous species (figure 2c).…”

Section: (B) Allomaternal Care Without Cooperative Breedingmentioning

confidence: 88%

Looking for unity in diversity: human cooperative childcare in comparative perspective

2017

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Humans engage in cooperative childcare, which includes some elements not found in other animals, such as the presence of post-reproductive helpers, extensive food sharing among adults and a pervasive sexual division of labour. In animals, cooperative offspring care has typically been studied in two different contexts. The first mainly involves helpers contributing care in cooperatively breeding family groups; the second context is allomaternal care in species usually not categorized as cooperative breeders (e.g. plural and communal breeders, often without male care). Comparative analyses suggest that cooperative breeding and allomaternal care in plural and communal breeders have distinct evolutionary origins, with humans fitting neither pathway entirely. Nevertheless, some critical proximate mechanisms of helping, including hormonal regulators, are likely to be shared across species. Other mechanisms may vary among species, such as social tolerance, proactive prosociality or conditional mother–infant bonding. These are presumably associated with specific details of the care system, such as whether all group members contribute, or whether mothers can potentially raise offspring alone. Thus, cooperative offspring care is seen in different contexts across animal lineages, but may nonetheless share several important psychological characteristics. We end by discussing how work on humans may play a unifying role in studying cooperative offspring care.

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Section: (B) Allomaternal Care Without Cooperative Breedingmentioning

confidence: 88%

Looking for unity in diversity: human cooperative childcare in comparative perspective

2017

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“…One hypothesis is that if social networks offer survival benefits to young, and those social networks are disrupted (potentially by high levels of disturbance, as demonstrated in hyaenas; Belton et al, ), could this disruption result in reduced survival of young? It is well established that stable social networks facilitate the survival of the young (Brent et al, ; Brent, Ruiz‐Lambides, & Platt, ; Cameron et al, ; Goldenberg et al, ; Lahdenperä, Mar, & Lummaa, ; Silk et al, , ; Stanton & Mann, ), so it seems plausible that disruption of those networks could influence calf survival, and potentially explain the lack of calves in LNNP. There is evidence of alloparental care in giraffes; young calves are frequently left in a crèche system, cared for by adults other than their mother (Leuthold, ; Pratt & Anderson, , ); there are several reports of allonursing (Gloneková, Brandlová, & Pluháček, ; Gloneková, Vymyslická, Žáčková, & Brandlová, ; Perry, ; Pratt & Anderson, ); and females express distress behaviours following the death of another individual's calf (Bercovitch, ; Strauss & Muller, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) social networks in areas of contrasting human activity and lion density

Raw

Cuthill

2019

Ethology

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The adaptive value of close social bonds and social networks has been demonstrated in a variety of vertebrate taxa. While the effect of predators on populations is well established, disturbance by humans is increasingly being identified as affecting the behaviour and reproductive success of animals and can have significant impacts on their survival. We used a concurrent analysis of two adjacent giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis populations in Kenya to determine whether human activities and high predation affected their social networks. One study site was a premier tourist destination with a high volume of human activity in the form of tourist traffic and lodge infrastructure, alongside a high density of lions which preferentially prey on giraffe calves; the other was a private wildlife conservancy with minimal human activity and no lion population. Giraffes in both networks showed preferred associations and avoidances of other individuals, which were independent of space use. Bond strength was lower in the population exposed to high levels of human activity and lions, and the network had lower density and clustering, and shorter path lengths, suggesting that it was more fragmented. We suggest that human activity and predator density may influence the patterns of social interactions in giraffes and highlight the importance of understanding the impact of tourism and management on the survival and success of wild animal populations.

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“…First, following (Mar et al, ) and (Lahdenperä et al, ), we use a 4‐level factor (ages 9‐21/22‐28/29‐37/38‐71), using the quartiles of the maternal age distribution. Second, we used a 5‐level factor (ages 9‐21/22‐28/29‐37/38‐49/50‐71), which was the same as the 4‐level factor, but with the fourth level divided into two to distinguish the oldest mothers in the population, in order to determine whether these oldest mothers were driving the age effect.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal age at birth shapes offspring life‐history trajectory across generations in long‐lived Asian elephants

Reichert

Berger

Jackson

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Advanced maternal age at birth can have pronounced consequences for offspring health, survival and reproduction. If carried over to the next generation, such fitness effects could have important implications for population dynamics and the evolution of ageing, but these remain poorly understood. While many laboratory studies have investigated maternal age effects, relatively few studies have been conducted in natural populations, and they usually only present a “snapshot” of an offspring's lifetime. In the present study, we focus on how maternal age influences offspring life‐history trajectories and performance in a long‐lived mammal. We use a multigenerational demographic dataset of semi‐captive Asian elephants to investigate maternal age effects on several offspring life‐history traits: condition, reproductive success and overall survival. We show that offspring born to older mothers display reduced overall survival but higher reproductive success, and reduced survival of their own progeny. Our results show evidence of a persistent effect of maternal age on fitness across generations in a long‐lived mammal. By highlighting transgenerational effects on the fitness of the next generation associated with maternal age, the present study helps increase our understanding of factors contributing to individual variation in ageing rates and fitness.

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Nearby grandmother enhances calf survival and reproduction in Asian elephants

Cited by 73 publications

References 56 publications

Looking for unity in diversity: human cooperative childcare in comparative perspective

Looking for unity in diversity: human cooperative childcare in comparative perspective

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) social networks in areas of contrasting human activity and lion density

Maternal age at birth shapes offspring life‐history trajectory across generations in long‐lived Asian elephants

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