The influence of maternal glucocorticoids on offspring phenotype in high- and low-risk environments.

ABSTRACT: Elevated maternal glucocorticoid levels during gestation can lead to phenotypic changes in offspring via maternal effects. Although such effects have traditionally been considered maladaptive, maternally derived glucocorticoids may adaptively prepare offspring for their future environment depending upon the correlation between maternal and offspring environments. Nevertheless, relatively few studies test the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure across multiple environments. We tested the potential for ecologically relevant increases in maternal glucocorticoids in the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) to induce adaptive phenotypic changes in offspring exposed to high or low densities of an invasive fire ant predator. Maternal treatment had limited effects on offsprin

SUBMITTER: MacLeod KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8691550 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature