Temporal dynamics of mother-offspring relationships in Bigg's killer whales: opportunities for kin-directed help by post-reproductive females.
Proc Biol Sci
; 290(2000): 20230139, 2023 06 14.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37282537
ABSTRACT
Age-related changes in the patterns of local relatedness (kinship dynamics) can be a significant selective force shaping the evolution of life history and social behaviour. In humans and some species of toothed whales, average female relatedness increases with age, which can select for a prolonged post-reproductive lifespan in older females due to both costs of reproductive conflict and benefits of late-life helping of kin. Killer whales (Orcinus orca) provide a valuable system for exploring social dynamics related to such costs and benefits in a mammal with an extended post-reproductive female lifespan. We use more than 40 years of demographic and association data on the mammal-eating Bigg's killer whale to quantify how mother-offspring social relationships change with offspring age and identify opportunities for late-life helping and the potential for an intergenerational reproductive conflict. Our results suggest a high degree of male philopatry and female-biased budding dispersal in Bigg's killer whales, with some variability in the dispersal rate for both sexes. These patterns of dispersal provide opportunities for late-life helping particularly between mothers and their adult sons, while partly mitigating the costs of mother-daughter reproductive conflict. Our results provide an important step towards understanding why and how menopause has evolved in Bigg's killer whales.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Orca
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
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Animals
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Biol Sci
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido