10.5061/DRYAD.9VV1VB6
Munch, Kirke L.
University of Tasmania
Noble, Daniel W.A.
University of Tasmania
Budd, Luke
University of Tasmania
Row, Aryana
University of Tasmania
Wapstra, Erik
University of Tasmania
While, Geoffrey M.
University of Tasmania
Noble, Daniel W A
UNSW Sydney
University of Tasmania
Data from: Maternal presence facilitates plasticity in offspring behavior:
insights into the evolution of parental care
Dryad
dataset
2018
reptile
present
Holocene
Liopholis whitii
2018-09-04T17:39:15Z
2018-09-04T17:39:15Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary122
83794 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Fundamental to the definition of parental care is that care confers
benefits to the offspring. However, the mechanisms resulting in these
benefits remain poorly understood, particularly in species where postnatal
care is not obligatory. Here, we address this shortcoming using a lizard,
Liopholis whitii, in which family life is facultative and relatively
simple – extending to prolonged associations between parents and offspring
within the parental territory. Using a split-clutch design, we housed
offspring either with their mother or alone during the first eight weeks
of postnatal life and examined whether maternal presence affected (i) the
expression of key functional behaviors, and (ii) learning ability in a
biologically relevant anti-predatory task. We found that offspring housed
with their mothers expressed heightened levels of activity, boldness and
exploration compared to offspring who were housed alone. Furthermore, we
show that associating with mothers during early postnatal periods led to
improved offspring performance in the anti-predation learning task.
Together these results suggest that even relatively simple forms of
enhanced parent-offspring association can have significant impacts on
offspring traits. We argue that such effects may help refine and stabilize
parent-offspring associations early in their evolution, potentially
setting the stage for the elaboration of both parent and offspring
behaviors.
Behaviour DataAll data used to generate the results for the behavioural
component of the studyBehaviour.csvLearning DataAll data used to generate
the results for the learning component of the studyLearning.csv
Tasmania
Australia