Does low fecundity reflect kin recognition and inbreeding avoidance in the mandarin vole (Microtus mandarinus)?

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (12) ◽  
pp. 2150-2155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tai Fadao ◽  
Sun Ruyong ◽  
Wang Tingzheng

The effects of kin recognition on estrus and breeding in mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus) were investigated in the laboratory using a cross-fostering method. Nonsiblings reared apart produced significantly more litters than siblings or nonsiblings reared together. These results may support the hypothesis that familiarity through association before weaning plays an important role in kin recognition. On the other hand, nonsiblings reared apart produced significantly more litters than siblings reared apart. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in number of litters between siblings reared apart and siblings reared together. These observations show that phenotype-matching mechanisms of kin recognition may operate in conjunction with familiarity in kin recognition in this species. Through observing the vaginal cytology of female mandarin voles paired with different males in different rearing conditions, it was found that females paired with familiar males (through association before weaning) produced significantly fewer estrous smears than females paired with unfamiliar males (reared by different parents before weaning), regardless of genetic relatedness. Thus, using vaginal cytology as an indicator of estrus, it was found that familiarity through association before weaning may retard the first estrus of female mandarin voles.

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (12) ◽  
pp. 2119-2125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tai Fadao ◽  
Wang Tingzheng ◽  
Zhao Yajun

Five experiments were conducted to test the performance of adult mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus) in discriminating and preferring siblings versus nonsiblings raised in different conditions. The results indicate that adult males and estrous females displayed a significant preference for individuals raised by other parents over those raised by the same parent, regardless of genetic relatedness. The effect appears to depend on the presence of siblings during development. This shows that familiarity through association before weaning plays an important role in kin recognition. The preference of reproductively active mandarin voles for unfamiliar voles is interpreted as inbreeding avoidance. Although Wilcoxon's matched-pair tests showed no significant preferences of adult mandarin voles for siblings over nonsiblings raised by the same parents or by other parents, mean durations of visiting, mounting, and lying near nonsiblings were higher than those for siblings. This implies that genetic relatedness may have some effect on kin recognition, although familiarity is the main mechanism.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchel J. Daniel

AbstractKin recognition plays a fundamental role in social evolution, enabling active inbreeding avoidance, nepotism, and promoting cooperative social organization. Many organisms recognize kin based on phenotypic similarity – a process called phenotype matching – by comparing information associated with their own phenotype against the phenotypes of conspecifics. However, recent theory demonstrates that to accurately judge phenotypic similarity (and hence, relatedness), individuals require estimates of the population’s distribution of phenotypes as a “frame of reference.” Here, I use the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) to provide the first empirical test of this population estimation theory. I varied the phenotypic distributions of the groups in which focal individuals developed and found that, as adults, their patterns of inbreeding avoidance and nepotistic intrasexual competition differed as predicted by population estimation theory. Individuals reared with conspecifics more similar to themselves treated novel conspecifics as less closely related, suggesting a shifted population estimate. Individuals reared with more phenotypically variable conspecifics exhibited less extreme kin discrimination, suggesting a broader population estimate. These results provide experimental evidence that population estimates inform phenotype matching, and are acquired plastically through social experience. By calibrating phenotype matching to the population distribution of phenotypes, population estimation enhances kin recognition, increasing opportunities for the evolution of inbreeding avoidance and nepotism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monil Khera ◽  
Kevin Arbuckle ◽  
Joseph I. Hoffman ◽  
Jennifer L. Sanderson ◽  
Michael A. Cant ◽  
...  

Abstract In species that live in family groups, such as cooperative breeders, inbreeding is usually avoided through the recognition of familiar kin. For example, individuals may avoid mating with conspecifics encountered regularly in infancy, as these likely include parents, siblings, and closely related alloparents. Other mechanisms have also been reported, albeit rarely; for example, individuals may compare their own phenotype to that of others, with close matches representing likely relatives (“phenotype matching”). However, determinants of the primary inbreeding avoidance mechanisms used by a given species remain poorly understood. We use 24 years of life history and genetic data to investigate inbreeding avoidance in wild cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo). We find that inbreeding avoidance occurs within social groups but is far from maximised (mean pedigree relatedness between 351 breeding pairs = 0.144). Unusually for a group-living vertebrate, we find no evidence that females avoid breeding with males with which they are familiar in early life. This is probably explained by communal breeding; females give birth in tight synchrony and pups are cared for communally, thus reducing the reliability of familiarity-based proxies of relatedness. We also found little evidence that inbreeding is avoided by preferentially breeding with males of specific age classes. Instead, females may exploit as-yet unknown proxies of relatedness, for example, through phenotype matching, or may employ postcopulatory inbreeding avoidance mechanisms. Investigation of species with unusual breeding systems helps to identify constraints against inbreeding avoidance and contributes to our understanding of the distribution of inbreeding across species. Significance statement Choosing the right mate is never easy, but it may be particularly difficult for banded mongooses. In most social animals, individuals avoid mating with those that were familiar to them as infants, as these are likely to be relatives. However, we show that this rule does not work in banded mongooses. Here, the offspring of several mothers are raised in large communal litters by their social group, and parents seem unable to identify or direct care towards their own pups. This may make it difficult to recognise relatives based on their level of familiarity and is likely to explain why banded mongooses frequently inbreed. Nevertheless, inbreeding is lower than expected if mates are chosen at random, suggesting that alternative pre- or post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance mechanisms are used.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 171798 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mitchell ◽  
S. Kyabulima ◽  
R. Businge ◽  
M. A. Cant ◽  
H. J. Nichols

Kin discrimination is often beneficial for group-living animals as it aids in inbreeding avoidance and providing nepotistic help. In mammals, the use of olfactory cues in kin discrimination is widespread and may occur through learning the scents of individuals that are likely to be relatives, or by assessing genetic relatedness directly through assessing odour similarity (phenotype matching). We use scent presentations to investigate these possibilities in a wild population of the banded mongoose Mungos mungo , a cooperative breeder in which inbreeding risk is high and females breed communally, disrupting behavioural cues to kinship. We find that adults show heightened behavioural responses to unfamiliar (extra-group) scents than to familiar (within-group) scents. Interestingly, we found that responses to familiar odours, but not unfamiliar odours, varied with relatedness. This suggests that banded mongooses are either able to use an effective behavioural rule to identify likely relatives from within their group, or that phenotype matching is used in the context of within-group kin recognition but not extra-group kin recognition. In other cooperative breeders, familiarity is used within the group and phenotype matching may be used to identify unfamiliar kin. However, for the banded mongoose this pattern may be reversed, most likely due to their unusual breeding system which disrupts within-group behavioural cues to kinship.


1976 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Boone ◽  
Harold M. Friedman

Reading and writing performance was observed in 30 adult aphasic patients to determine whether there was a significant difference when stimuli and manual responses were varied in the written form: cursive versus manuscript. Patients were asked to read aloud 10 words written cursively and 10 words written in manuscript form. They were then asked to write on dictation 10 word responses using cursive writing and 10 words using manuscript writing. Number of words correctly read, number of words correctly written, and number of letters correctly written in the proper sequence were tallied for both cursive and manuscript writing tasks for each patient. Results indicated no significant difference in correct response between cursive and manuscript writing style for these aphasic patients as a group; however, it was noted that individual patients varied widely in their success using one writing form over the other. It appeared that since neither writing form showed better facilitation of performance, the writing style used should be determined according to the individual patient’s own preference and best performance.


1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (01) ◽  
pp. 035-040 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M H P van den Besselaar ◽  
R M Bertina

SummaryFour thromboplastin reagents were tested by 18 laboratories in Europe, North-America, and Australasia, according to a detailed protocol. One thromboplastin was the International Reference Preparation for ox brain thromboplastin combined with adsorbed bovine plasma (coded OBT/79), and the second was a certified reference material for rabbit brain thromboplastin, plain (coded CRM 149R). The other two thromboplastin reagents were another rabbit plain brain thromboplastin (RP) with a lower ISI than CRM 149R and a rabbit brain thromboplastin combined with adsorbed bovine plasma (RC). Calibration of the latter two reagents was performed according to methods recommended by the World Health Organization (W. H. O.).The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: 1) Is the calibration of the RC reagent more precise against the bovine/combined (OBT/79) than against the rabbit/plain reagent (CRM 149R)? 2) Is the precision of calibration influenced by the magnitude of the International Sensitivity Index (ISI)?The lowest inter-laboratory variation of ISI was observed in the calibration of the rabbit/plain reagent (RP) against the other rabbit/plain reagent (CRM 149R) (CV 1.6%). The highest interlaboratory variation was obtained in the calibration of rabbit/plain (RP) against bovine/combined (OBT/79) (CV 5.1%). In the calibration of the rabbit/combined (RC) reagent, there was no difference in precision between OBT/79 (CV 4.3%) and CRM 149R (CV 4.2%). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the precision of the ISI of RC obtained with CRM 149R (ISI = 1.343) and the rabbit/plain (RP) reagent with ISI = 1.14. In conclusion, the calibration of RC could be performed with similar precision with either OBT/79 or CRM 149R, or RP.The mean ISI values calculated with OBT/79 and CRM 149R were practically identical, indicating that there is no bias in the ISI of these reference preparations and that these reference preparations have been stable since their original calibration studies in 1979 and 1987, respectively.International Normalized Ratio (INR) equivalents were calculated for a lyophilized control plasma derived from patients treated with oral anticoagulants. There were small but significant differences in the mean INR equivalents between the bovine and rabbit thromboplastins. There were no differences in the interlaboratory variation of the INR equivalents, when the four thromboplastins were compared.


1966 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Deckert ◽  
Kai R. Jorgensen

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a difference could be demonstrated between crystalline insulin extracted from normal human pancreas, and crystalline insulin extracted from bovine and porcine pancreas. Using Hales & Randle's (1963) immunoassay no immunological differences could be demonstrated between human and pig insulin. On the other hand, a significant difference was found, between pig and ox insulin. An attempt was also made to determine whether an immunological difference could be demonstrated between crystalline pig insulin and crystalline human insulin from non diabetic subjects on the one hand and endogenous, circulating insulin from normal subjects, obese subjects and diabetic subjects on the other. No such difference was found. From these experiments it is concluded that endogenous insulin in normal, obese and diabetic human sera is immunologically identical with human, crystalline insulin from non diabetic subjects and crystalline pig insulin.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 172
Author(s):  
HARMAN AGUSAPUTRA ◽  
MARIA SUGENG ◽  
AYLY SOEKAMTO ◽  
ATIK WULANDARI

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><strong>Background:</strong> Hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) as antiseptic has been used frequently to clean woundsin in hospitals and clinics. Hydrogen peroxide has the effectof strong oxidative that can kill pathogens. It can clean up debris and necrotic tissuesin wounds. Hydrogen peroxidealso has hemostatic effect that can help to stop bleeding. Besides antiseptic effects, hydrogen peroxide i s suspected of having negative effect in wound healing. Hydrogen peroxide presumably could cause delayed wound healing by exudate formation and delayed epithelial growth.</p><p><strong>Method</strong>: This study was conducted in the laboratory using 48 white mice that were divided into 2 groups. All the mice were purposely wounded. Afterwards in one group the wounds were clean up using hydrogen peroxide, while in the other group without hydrogen peroxide as control. The wounds of both groups were observed on day 1, day 3 and day 7. On day 1 and day 3, both groups did not show significant difference.</p><p><strong>R</strong><strong>esult</strong> : on day 7 showed that the wound healing in hydrogen peroxide group were delayed. Fifty percent of them had the formation of exudate and 62.5% of them showed delayed epithelial growth.</p><p><strong>Conclusion </strong>: This study could show hydrogen peroxide as wound antiseptic has delayed wound healing effect.</p><p><strong>Keyword</strong>: hydrogen peroxide, wound healing</p>


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