Recrudescence of sexual activity in a reproductively quiescent colony of the Damaraland mole-rat (Cryptomys damarensis), by the introduction of an unfamiliar and genetically unrelated male - A case of incest avoidance in 'queenless' colonies
Colonies of the eusocial Damaraland mole-rat, Cryptomys damarensis, are founded from a single reproductive pair of animals genetically unrelated by common descent. All non-reproductive members of the colony are progeny of this reproductive pair. In colonies where the reproductive female has been exp...
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| Published in: | Journal of zoology (1987) Vol. 241; no. 1; pp. 185 - 202 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
01-01-1997
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Colonies of the eusocial Damaraland mole-rat, Cryptomys damarensis, are founded from a single reproductive pair of animals genetically unrelated by common descent. All non-reproductive members of the colony are progeny of this reproductive pair. In colonies where the reproductive female has been experimentally removed or has died a natural death, there is a strict incest avoidance and the colony remains reproductively quiescent. Reinstatement of sexual activity in a queenless colony may be brought about in the laboratory by the introduction of an unfamiliar and unrelated adult male. In the queenless colony under study, there was a marked change in social structure with an increase in Landau's index of linearity from 0.8 to 0.9 on introduction of the new male. The unrelated male became a high ranking dominant reproductive male. The youngest, but most dominant non-reproductive female became sexually active and subsequently became pregnant and hence acquired the position of reproductive female. The new reproductive female exhibited heightened progesterone (9 nmols/mmol creatinine) and oestradiol (3000 pmols /mmol creatinine) concentrations in the urine relative to the other non-reproductive females. These hormone concentrations were indicative of a reproductively active female. Behavioural and hormonal data are presented to show that sexual activity can be re-instated in queenless colonies of laboratory maintained mole-rats by the introduction of unrelated male mole-rats. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0952-8369 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb05508.x |