Promiscuous behaviour disrupts pregnancy block in domestic horse mares

Bartoš, Luděk; Bartošová, Jitka; Pluháček, Jan; Šindelářová, Jana

doi:10.1007/s00265-011-1166-6

Cited by 35 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There is little evidence that domestication has resulted in the loss of behavior from the species repertoire or that farm animals, including domestic pigs, are incapable of making optimal decisions in a way compatible with their wild origin (e.g., Illmann et al, 2005;Andersen et al, 2011;Bartos et al, 2011;Spinka et al, 2011). A strategy of producing larger broods and smaller young, resulting in a greater mortality rate, occurs fre quently in the domestic pig.…”

Section: General Discussion Regarding Sow Response To Piglets Crush Smentioning

confidence: 97%

Sow postural changes, responsiveness to piglet screams, and their impact on piglet mortality in pens and crates1,2

Melišová

Illmann

Chaloupková

et al. 2014

Journal of Animal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Free farrowing pens (pens) improve the welfare of sows but may increase sow activity and negatively influence piglet production. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of pens and crates on sow postural changes, piglet trapping, sow responses to piglet screams, piglet mortality, and piglet BW gain. It was predicted that provision of greater space (in pens) would increase not only the frequency of sow postural changes and the probability of trappisng but also sow responses to the screams of piglets; thus, the outcome would be no differences in fatal piglet crushing or overall mortality between the housing systems. Sows were randomly moved to either a farrowing pen (n = 20) or farrowing crate (n = 18). Sow behavior was recorded and analyzed for 72 h from the birth of the first piglet (BFP). Sow postural changes included rolling from a ventral to lateral position and vice versa and going from standing to sitting, standing to lying, and sitting to lying. Occurrences of piglet trapping and sow responsiveness to real crushing situations were analyzed. Sow responsiveness was assessed in response to audio playbacks (PB) of piglet screams on d 3 postpartum (48 to 72 h after BFP; PB crush calls) and real piglet crushing during the first 72 h after BFP (real crush calls). Piglet BW gain was estimated 24 h after BFP, piglet BW was recorded at weaning, and piglet crushing and piglet mortality were recorded during the 72 h after BFP. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED and PROC GENMOD of SAS. Sows in pens showed more postural changes (P = 0.04) and tended to have greater incidences of piglet trapping (P = 0.07) than those in crates. Sow response to PB crush calls was greater in pens (P = 0.04) but did not differ for real crush calls between pens and crates (P = 0.62). There was no effect on the probability of piglet crushing (P = 0.38) and mortality (P = 0.41) during the 72 h after BFP nor in piglet mortality at weaning (P = 0.81) between pens and crates. Piglet BW gain at 24 h after BFP (P = 0.01) and piglet BW at weaning (P = 0.02) were greater in pens. Sows in pens showed more postural changes and tended to trap more piglets; however, the response to real crush calls did not differ between the two housing systems. Despite this, there was no increase in piglet crushing or mortality in pens, which might be influenced by the better piglet body condition observed in pens, which in turn could influence their ability to avoid crushing by the sow.

show abstract

Section: General Discussion Regarding Sow Response To Piglets Crush Smentioning

confidence: 97%

Sow postural changes, responsiveness to piglet screams, and their impact on piglet mortality in pens and crates1,2

Melišová

Illmann

Chaloupková

et al. 2014

Journal of Animal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(b) The Bruce effect occurs when females terminate a conceptive event (i.e., implantation failure or pregnancy termination) after exposure to nonsire males without the need for male aggression (although male aggression may occur, aggression is not a necessary component). “Exposure” to nonsire males may be in the form of physical contact with the male himself, exposure to his secretions (i.e., chemosensory exposure), or exposure to other sensory stimuli (i.e., visual or acoustic exposure) . We argue that, despite the dearth of research effort in the animal literature, male‐mediated prenatal loss is likely to be more pervasive across mammalian taxa than is infanticide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…To draw attention to these studies, we have listed (Supporting Information Table S1) all species (28 species across 17 genera) in which male‐mediated prenatal loss has been documented (also available for download at doi:10.5061/dryad.h6980d8). Although this list relies heavily on laboratory studies (e.g., for 15 species of rodents, the Bruce effect has been documented exclusively in the lab), the Bruce effect has been corroborated in field studies of several species …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male‐mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Zipple

Roberts

Alberts

et al. 2019

Evolutionary Anthropology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexually selected infanticide has been the subject of intense empirical and theoretical study for decades; a related phenomenon, male‐mediated prenatal loss, has received much less attention in evolutionary studies. Male‐mediated prenatal loss occurs when inseminated or pregnant females terminate reproductive effort following exposure to a nonsire male, either through implantation failure or pregnancy termination. Male‐mediated prenatal loss encompasses two sub‐phenomena: sexually selected feticide and the Bruce effect. In this review, we provide a framework that explains the relationship between feticide and the Bruce effect and describes what is known about the proximate and ultimate mechanisms involved in each. Using a simple model, we demonstrate that male‐mediated prenatal loss can provide greater reproductive benefits to males than infanticide. We therefore suggest that, compared to infanticide, male‐mediated prenatal loss may be more prevalent in mammalian species and may have played a greater role in their social evolution than has previously been documented.

show abstract

“…This phenomenon is common in many rodent species, both under laboratory conditions and in the wild [2], [3], [4]. Additional evidence for the Bruce effect is found in the domestic horse ( Equus ferus caballus ) [5] and in wild primates [6], [7]. The Bruce effect and its underlying mechanisms have been well-studied at both behavioral and neurobiological levels [8], [9], [10], [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Low Incidence of Miscarriage Induced by the Scent of Male Littermates of Original Mates: Male Kinship Reduces the Bruce Effect in Female Mice, Mus musculus

Wang

Liu

2013

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The scent of a novel male can elicit pregnancy block in recently mated female mice (Mus musculus), a phenomenon known as the Bruce effect. Despite abundant literature on the Bruce effect in rodents, it remains unclear whether males related to a female’s original mate can induce the Bruce effect in out-bred, communally living mice. We investigated this question using Kunming (KM) male mice of varying genetic relatedness. Recently mated females were subjected to three treatments: exposure to the urine of the mate, urine of the mate’s male littermate, and urine of a male unrelated to the mate. It was found that the urine of male littermates of the females’ mates did not elicit more pregnancy block than that of the females’ mates. However, the urine of novel males caused a higher rate of female miscarriage than that of the females’ mates. By using a habituation-dishabituation paradigm, we found that unmated females could discriminate the urine scents of two male littermates from those of a novel male unrelated to the littermates. To understand how females use urinary cues to discriminate between males with different genetic relationships, we used gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to examine the volatile composition of urine from males with varying relatedness. It was found that KM male littermates shared similar volatile compositions in their urine. Our results suggest that male kinship reduces the Bruce effect in female KM mice, and provide additional evidence for mate choice being partly mediated by the Bruce effect in KM mice.

show abstract

Promiscuous behaviour disrupts pregnancy block in domestic horse mares

Cited by 35 publications

References 34 publications

Sow postural changes, responsiveness to piglet screams, and their impact on piglet mortality in pens and crates1,2

Sow postural changes, responsiveness to piglet screams, and their impact on piglet mortality in pens and crates1,2

Male‐mediated prenatal loss: Functions and mechanisms

Low Incidence of Miscarriage Induced by the Scent of Male Littermates of Original Mates: Male Kinship Reduces the Bruce Effect in Female Mice, Mus musculus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About