The role of visual cues in mother-pup reunions in a colonially breeding mammal.

ABSTRACT: Parental care is an important factor influencing offspring survival and adult reproductive success in many vertebrates. Parent-offspring recognition ensures care is only directed to filial young, avoiding the costs of misallocated resource transfer. It is essential in colonial mammal species, such as otariids (fur seals and sea lions), in which repeated mother-offspring separations increase the risk of misdirecting maternal effort. Identification of otariid pups by mothers is known to be multi-modal, yet the role of visual cues in this process remains uncertain. We used three-dimensional visual models to investigate the importance of visual cues in maternal recognition of pups in Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea). We showed that the colour pattern of pup pelage in the absence

SUBMITTER: Wierucka K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5719376 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature