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Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data

Hazel Nichols Orcid Logo, Kevin Arbuckle Orcid Logo, Karen Fullard, William Amos

Behavioral Ecology, Volume: 31, Issue: 2, Pages: 508 - 518

Swansea University Authors: Hazel Nichols Orcid Logo, Kevin Arbuckle Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/beheco/arz211

Abstract

In a handful of mammals, females show an extended post-reproductive lifespan (PRLS), leading to questions over why they spend a substantial portion of their lifespan non-reproductive. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that PRLS may evolve when (1) demographic patterns lead to increasing loca...

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Published in: Behavioral Ecology
ISSN: 1045-2249 1465-7279
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2020
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52952
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spelling 2020-07-28T15:17:19.6225953 v2 52952 2019-12-03 Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe 0000-0002-4455-6065 Hazel Nichols Hazel Nichols true false d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e 0000-0002-9171-5874 Kevin Arbuckle Kevin Arbuckle true false 2019-12-03 SBI In a handful of mammals, females show an extended post-reproductive lifespan (PRLS), leading to questions over why they spend a substantial portion of their lifespan non-reproductive. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that PRLS may evolve when (1) demographic patterns lead to increasing local relatedness as females age, and (2) females come into reproductive competition with their daughters, as these conditions lead to high relative benefits of helping kin versus reproducing in later life. However, evolutionary pathways to PRLS are poorly understood and empirical studies are scarce. Here, we use a dataset of 1522 individuals comprising 22 pods to investigate patterns of reproduction and relatedness in long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas; a toothed whale without species-wide PRLS. We find a similar relatedness structure to whales with PRLS: pods appear composed of related matrilines, and relatedness of females to their pod increases with age, suggesting that this species could benefit from late-life help. Furthermore, females with a large number of philopatric adult daughters (but not sons) are less likely to reproduce, implying intergenerational reproductive competition between females. This suggests that individuals may display a plastic cessation of reproduction, switching to investing in existing offspring when they come into competition with their daughters. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such a relationship has been described in relation to PRLS, and it raises questions about whether this represents a step towards evolving PRLS or is a stable alternative strategy to widespread post-reproductive periods. Journal Article Behavioral Ecology 31 2 508 518 Oxford University Press (OUP) 1045-2249 1465-7279 20 3 2020 2020-03-20 10.1093/beheco/arz211 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz211 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2020-07-28T15:17:19.6225953 2019-12-03T16:05:02.4518816 Hazel Nichols 0000-0002-4455-6065 1 Kevin Arbuckle 0000-0002-9171-5874 2 Karen Fullard 3 William Amos 4 52952__16663__d947fd414f914cdb8ab2921051e5a5e9.pdf 52952.pdf 2020-02-21T14:49:49.6392245 Output 919830 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2021-01-07T00:00:00.0000000 true 8 true https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cjsxksn29 false
title Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
spellingShingle Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
Hazel Nichols
Kevin Arbuckle
title_short Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
title_full Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
title_fullStr Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
title_full_unstemmed Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
title_sort Why don’t long-finned pilot whales have a widespread postreproductive lifespan? Insights from genetic data
author_id_str_mv 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe
d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e
author_id_fullname_str_mv 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe_***_Hazel Nichols
d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e_***_Kevin Arbuckle
author Hazel Nichols
Kevin Arbuckle
author2 Hazel Nichols
Kevin Arbuckle
Karen Fullard
William Amos
format Journal article
container_title Behavioral Ecology
container_volume 31
container_issue 2
container_start_page 508
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
issn 1045-2249
1465-7279
doi_str_mv 10.1093/beheco/arz211
publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz211
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description In a handful of mammals, females show an extended post-reproductive lifespan (PRLS), leading to questions over why they spend a substantial portion of their lifespan non-reproductive. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that PRLS may evolve when (1) demographic patterns lead to increasing local relatedness as females age, and (2) females come into reproductive competition with their daughters, as these conditions lead to high relative benefits of helping kin versus reproducing in later life. However, evolutionary pathways to PRLS are poorly understood and empirical studies are scarce. Here, we use a dataset of 1522 individuals comprising 22 pods to investigate patterns of reproduction and relatedness in long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas; a toothed whale without species-wide PRLS. We find a similar relatedness structure to whales with PRLS: pods appear composed of related matrilines, and relatedness of females to their pod increases with age, suggesting that this species could benefit from late-life help. Furthermore, females with a large number of philopatric adult daughters (but not sons) are less likely to reproduce, implying intergenerational reproductive competition between females. This suggests that individuals may display a plastic cessation of reproduction, switching to investing in existing offspring when they come into competition with their daughters. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such a relationship has been described in relation to PRLS, and it raises questions about whether this represents a step towards evolving PRLS or is a stable alternative strategy to widespread post-reproductive periods.
published_date 2020-03-20T04:05:38Z
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