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opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Within-family parent-offspring co-adaptation in a wild bird: on static traits, behavioural reaction norms and sex differences

Parental care, a central component of reproduction in a wide range of animal species, often involves elaborate behavioural interactions between parents and their offspring. Due to the reciprocal nature of these interactions, it has been hypothesized that parental and offspring behaviours (e.g. parental food provisioning and offspring begging) are not only target but also agent of selection. These traits are therefore expected to co-evolve, ultimately leading to co-adaptation of parent and offspring behaviours within families. However, empirical data on such parent-offspring co-adaptation are limited, particularly for wild populations. Furthermore, mean levels of behaviour (as measured in previous studies) may not adequately describe the dynamic nature of the reciprocal interplay between parents and their offspring, and instead rather the behavioural reaction norms for provisioning and begging may be co-adapted. We applied a large-scale cross-fostering study over 3 consecutive breeding seasons to investigate whether provisioning behaviour of wild blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) parents co-varies with the begging behaviour of their genetic, cross-fostered offspring. We simultaneously analysed parent and offspring behaviours, both as static traits (mean levels) and behavioural reaction norms (offspring begging as a function of food deprivation and parental provisioning as a function of short-term experimental changes in brood size). Neither maternal nor paternal provisioning rates co-varied with the begging intensity of their genetic offspring when analysed as mean levels of behaviour. However, the slopes of the reaction norms for provisioning and begging were negatively correlated between male, but not female, parents and their genetic offspring. Thus, fathers that change their provisioning rate strongly with brood size sire offspring whose level of begging only weakly increases with hunger, and vice versa. The observed co-variation suggests the existence of sex-specific optima for parent-offspring trait combinations. Thus, our study not only highlights the importance of a behavioural reaction norm approach when investigating parent-offspring interactions, but also stresses the relevance of considering parents as separate units, at least for biparental species.

opencc-zeroDec 2014View details →

Data from: Parental effects alter the adaptive value of an adult behavioural trait

The parents' phenotype, or the environment they create for their young, can have long-lasting effects on their offspring, with profound evolutionary consequences. Yet virtually no work has considered how such parental effects might change the adaptive value of behavioural traits expressed by offspring upon reaching adulthood. To address this problem, we combined experiments on burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides) with theoretical modelling, and focussed on one adult behavioural trait in particular: the supply of parental care. We manipulated the early life environment and measured the fitness payoffs associated with the supply of parental care when larvae reached maturity. We found that (1) adults that received low levels of care as larvae were less successful at raising larger broods, and suffered greater mortality as a result: they were low quality parents. Furthermore (2) high quality males that raised offspring with low quality females subsequently suffered greater mortality than brothers of equivalent quality, which reared larvae with higher quality females. Our analyses identify three general ways in which parental effects can change the adaptive value of an adult behavioural trait: by influencing the associated fitness benefits and costs; by consequently changing the evolutionary outcome of social interactions; and by modifying the evolutionarily stable expression of behavioural traits that are themselves parental effects.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Adaptive shaping of the behavioural and neuroendocrine phenotype during adolescence

Environmental conditions during early life can adaptively shape the phenotype for the prevailing environment. Recently, it has been suggested that adolescence represents an additional temporal window for adaptive developmental plasticity, though supporting evidence is scarce. Previous work has shown that male guinea pigs living in large mixed-sex colonies develop a low-aggressive phenotype as part of a queuing strategy that is adaptive for integrating into large unfamiliar colonies. By contrast, males living in pairs during adolescence become highly aggressive towards strangers. Here, we tested whether the high-aggressive phenotype is adaptive under conditions of low population density, namely when directly competing with a single opponent for access to females. For that purpose, we established groups of one pair-housed male (PM), one colony-housed male (CM) and two females. PMs directed more aggression towards the male competitor and more courtship and mating towards females than did CMs. In consequence, PMs attained the dominant position in most cases and sired significantly more offspring. Moreover, they showed distinctly higher testosterone concentrations and elevated cortisol levels, which probably promoted enhanced aggressiveness while mobilizing necessary energy. Taken together, our results provide the clearest evidence to date for adaptive shaping of the phenotype by environmental influences during adolescence.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Behavioural repertoire of high-shore littorinid snails reveals novel adaptations to an extreme environment

Species that inhabit high-shore environments on rocky shores survive prolonged periods of emersion and thermal stress. Using two Hong Kong high-shore littorinids (Echinolittorina malaccana and E. radiata) as models, we examined their behavioural repertoire to survive these variable and extreme conditions. Environmental temperatures ranged from 4 ℃ in the cool season to 55.5 ℃ in the hot season, with strong seasonal and daily fluctuations. In the hot season, both species allocated >35 % of their activity budgets to stress-mitigating thermoregulatory behaviours (e.g. standing, towering) and relatively small proportions to foraging (<20%) and reproduction (<10%). In the assumedly benign cool season, greater proportions (>70%) of activity budgets were allocated to stress mitigation behaviours (crevice occupation, aggregation formation). Both species exhibited multifunctional behaviours that optimised time use during their tidally-constrained activity window in the hot season. Females mated while foraging when awash by the rising tide, and some males crawled on top of females prior to ceasing movement to form 'towers', which have both thermoregulatory benefits and reduce searching time for mates during subsequent activity. The function of such behaviours varies in a state-dependent manner, for example, the function of trail following changes over an activity cycle from mate searching on rising tides, to stress mitigation on falling tides (aiding aggregation formation), and to both functions through tower formation just before movement stops. Many of these behavioural responses are, therefore, multifunctional and can vary according to local conditions, allowing snails in this family to successfully colonize the extreme high-shore environment.

Figure 6 in Origin of adaptations to open environments and social behaviour in sabretoothed cats from the northeastern border of the Tibetan Plateau

Figure 6. Reconstruction of two Amphimachairodus hezhengensis defending their prey (Hezhengia bohlini) from two Dinocrocuta gigantea. Artwork by Oscar Sanisidro.

Figure 5 in Origin of adaptations to open environments and social behaviour in sabretoothed cats from the northeastern border of the Tibetan Plateau

Figure 5. Composition analysis of the Linxia Basin fauna and contemporary faunae. (a) Proportion of open-adapted species in fauna from MN9-11 of Eurasia shown on the map, with the size of circle representing the proportion value (larger circle means more open species). (b) Proportion of open-adapted species in the faunas from MN9-11 of Eurasia. (c) Non-metric MDS analysis of faunal composition (family level diversity) of the Dashengou Fauna and faunae from western Eurasia.

Figure 4 in Origin of adaptations to open environments and social behaviour in sabretoothed cats from the northeastern border of the Tibetan Plateau

Figure 4. Evolutionary rates of traits of different blocks. (a) Boxplots of rates among the three blocks and (b) rates of different blocks of each branch.

Figure 3 in Origin of adaptations to open environments and social behaviour in sabretoothed cats from the northeastern border of the Tibetan Plateau

Figure 3. (a) Geometric morphometric analysis of cranial lateral profiles, showing the change in orbit position and length of the zygomatic arch along PC1. The arrow in the morphospace suggests similar patterns of difference between Amphimachairodus–Machairodus and P. leo–P. tigris. (b) Eyesight range and rostral length of some big cats, showing the different adaptations. (c) Boxplots of the angle between the long axis of orbit and the sagittal plane (in ventral view), showing the relationship between angle and focal ability.

controlledIPD-YESFeb 2026View details →

ClinicalTrials.gov28/100

Adapting and Testing a Behavioural Intervention to Prevent FASD and Adverse Infant Outcomes

ClinicalTrials.gov study NCT05747599. IPD Sharing: YES. Countries: 1. Publications: 0.