Divergence of developmental trajectories is triggered interactively by early social and ecological experience in a cooperative breeder.

ABSTRACT: Cooperative breeders feature the highest level of social complexity among vertebrates. Environmental constraints foster the evolution of this form of social organization, selecting for both well-developed social and ecological competences. Cooperative breeders pursue one of two alternative social trajectories: delaying reproduction to care for the offspring of dominant breeders or dispersing early to breed independently. It is yet unclear which ecological and social triggers determine the choice between these alternatives and whether diverging developmental trajectories exist in cooperative vertebrates predisposing them to dispersal or philopatry. Here we experimentally reared juveniles of cooperatively breeding cichlid fish by varying the social environment and simulated predation threat

SUBMITTER: Fischer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5676887 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature