Monotocy and the evolution of plural breeding in mammals.

ABSTRACT: In many mammals, breeding females are intolerant of each other and seldom associate closely but, in some, they aggregate in groups that vary in size, stability, and kinship structure. Aggregation frequently increases competition for food, and interspecific differences in female sociality among mammals are commonly attributed to contrasts in ecological parameters, including variation in activity timing, the distribution of resources, as well as the risk of predation. However, there is increasing indication that differences in female sociality are also associated with phylogenetic relationships and with contrasts in life-history parameters. We show here that evolutionary transitions from systems where breeding females usually occupy separate ranges ("singular breeding") to systems where bree

SUBMITTER: Lukas D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7390990 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature