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Peter Santema1, Tim Clutton-Brock

  • 1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K.

Animal Behaviour
|April 17, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Aggression doesn't regulate helping behavior in meerkats. Instead, dominant females increase their own pup provisioning when the need for help is high, suggesting other benefits drive cooperative breeding.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Animal Behavior
  • Cooperative Breeding Systems

Background:

  • In cooperatively breeding species, nonbreeding subordinates (helpers) assist dominants with offspring care.
  • A potential conflict exists between breeders and helpers regarding contributions to offspring rearing.
  • Aggression by breeders may be a mechanism to increase helper effort.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test if dominant female meerkats use aggression to modulate helper effort based on the need for assistance.
  • To investigate if dominant meerkats adjust aggression in response to simulated increases in pup need or helper provisioning.

Main Methods:

  • Playback experiments using pup begging calls to simulate increased need for help.
  • Playback experiments using feeding calls to simulate elevated pup provisioning rates by helpers.
  • Observation and quantification of aggressive interactions and provisioning rates by dominant female meerkats.

Main Results:

  • Neither playback experiment significantly affected the rate of aggressive interactions between breeding females and helpers.
  • Breeding females increased their own pup provisioning rates in response to simulated increased pup begging.
  • No evidence was found supporting aggression as a regulatory mechanism for helping behavior in this species.

Conclusions:

  • The study does not support the hypothesis that breeders use aggression to enhance helping behavior in meerkats.
  • Direct and/or indirect benefits derived from helping likely explain pup provisioning dynamics.
  • Further research is needed to find definitive evidence of aggression regulating helping in cooperative animal societies.

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