Behavioural, demographic and fitness consequences of social instability in cooperatively breeding dwarf mongoose groups.

ABSTRACT: Social instability frequently arises in group-living species, but the potential costs have rarely been investigated in free-living cooperative breeders, especially across different timeframes. Using natural observations, body mass measurements and life-history data from dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula), we determined the short- and long-term consequences of a change in one of the dominant breeding pairs. We found that a new breeder led to alterations in both collective and individual behaviours (i.e. increases in communal scent-marking, engagement in intergroup interactions, sentinel activity and within-group grooming), as well as reduced body mass gain, further demographic changes and decreased reproductive success (i.e. fewer pups surviving to adulthood). The effects were partic

SUBMITTER: Kern JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10427820 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature