Testosterone and helping behavior in the azure-winged magpie ( Cyanopica cyanus ): natural covariation and an experimental test

Solis, Carlos; Solís, Elena; Valencia, Juliana; Chastel, Olivier; Sorci, Gabriele

doi:10.1007/s00265-003-0674-4

Cited by 25 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…They are, however, resolutely and aggressively solitary, perhaps even more so than scrub jays (Tomback, 1998). Azure-winged magpies, in contrast, have a “group territorial” breeding system (Brown, 1987), in which up to 20 related birds defend a common, multipurpose territory (Hosono, 1989; Komeda, Yamagishi, & Fujioka, 1987) and assist one or two breeding pairs in raising their young (de la Cruz et al, 2003). Like scrub jays, however, azure-winged magpies have a broad dietary niche and do not appear to rely heavily on spatial memory, caching only some highly-valued food items for short periods (Turcek & Kelso, 1968; Canário, Boieiro, & Vicente, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive representation in transitive inference: A comparison of four corvid species

Bond

Wei

Kamil

2010

Behavioural Processes

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive representation in transitive inference: A comparison of four corvid species

Bond

Wei

Kamil

2010

Behavioural Processes

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“…For example, positive correlations between offspring provisioning rates and levels of prolactin have been documented in Harris' hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus; Vleck et al 1991) and Florida scrub jays (Aphelocoma c. coerulescens; Schoech et al 1996). Additionally, experimentally induced increases in levels of testosterone in male superb fairy wrens, Malurus cyaneus, have been shown to lead to significant reductions in levels of offspring provisioning (Peters et al 2002), although effects may vary within and between species (de la Cruz et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cortisol levels are positively associated with pup-feeding rates in male meerkats

et al. 2005

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In societies of cooperative vertebrates, individual differences in contributions to offspring care are commonly substantial. Recent attempts to explain the causes of this variation have focused on correlations between contributions to care and the protein hormone prolactin, or the steroid hormone testosterone. However, such studies have seldom considered the importance of other hormones or controlled for non-hormonal factors that are correlative with both individual hormone levels and contributions to care. Using multivariate statistics, we show that hormone levels explain significant variation in contributions to pup-feeding by male meerkats, even after controlling for non-hormonal effects. However, long-term contributions to pup provisioning were significantly and positively correlated with plasma levels of cortisol rather than prolactin, while plasma levels of testosterone were not related to individual patterns of pup-feeding. Furthermore, a playback experiment that used pup begging calls to increase the feeding rates of male helpers gave rise to parallel increases in plasma cortisol levels, whilst prolactin and testosterone levels remained unchanged. Our findings confirm that hormones can explain significant amounts of variation in contributions to offspring feeding, and that cortisol, not prolactin, is the hormone most strongly associated with pup-feeding in cooperative male meerkats.

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“…For instance, these trade-offs may bias against helping in species with yearround nesting but not in seasonal species [98]. In the latter, individuals who did not manage to breed will anyway have to wait until the next year to mate, and therefore the reduced testosterone levels associated with helping [96,99] will not compromise mating success in the following year.…”

Section: (A) Hormonal Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Testosterone and helping behavior in the azure-winged magpie ( Cyanopica cyanus ): natural covariation and an experimental test

Cited by 25 publications

References 51 publications

Cognitive representation in transitive inference: A comparison of four corvid species

Cognitive representation in transitive inference: A comparison of four corvid species

Cortisol levels are positively associated with pup-feeding rates in male meerkats

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

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