Research - Behavioural Endocrinology
Early-life hormones and individual variation in cooperative behaviours in meerkats
Apparent altruism has evolved in several animal species, from bacteria to humans. Although the ecological and evolutionary bases for complex cooperative breeding systems are now mostly understood, we currently explain little of the wide variability observed among individuals contributing to cooperative offspring care in such systems. Hormones can have profound effects on social behaviours, but little is known about how early-life exposure to hormones may affect the propensity for cooperative care later in life. In meerkats society, Suricatta suricata, individual variation in alloparental care is associated with current glucocorticoids (GC). However, why individuals vary in GC levels and how this can influence individual contribution to cooperation remains largely unresolved. The aim of my PhD research is thus to investigate the extent at which maternal hormones can shape offspring hormonal profiles and cooperative motivation.
Glucocorticoids and Pregnancy
Maternal hormones are transferred during fetal development and have shown to influence offspring phenotypes in captive animals. Non-genomic maternal effects acting via GC on cooperative behaviours are thus likely to explain variation in individual contribution to cooperation. Understanding maternal variation in GC may provide clues to the mechanistic basis of adaptive or non-adaptive maternal effects and I thus examine the natural variation in GC within and between wild meerkat mothers.
Hormonal Maternal Effects, Cooperation and Stress Response
The neuroendocrine system is programmed during early periods of development in a way to influence an individual’s responsiveness to challenges throughout life. I thus examine how early intrauterine GC environment can influence offsprings’ own GC profiles and their responsiveness to the need for help when they come in age to contribute to babysitting, pup feeding and vigilance behaviours. Additionally, as GC is a major component of the stress response, I also attempt to disentangle to what extent individual variation in contribution to cooperation
reflects a variation
in individual stress response.
Funded by NSERC – Smithsonian Institution – Royal Society of London