A diagnosis model of parental care:How parents optimize their provisioning strategy in brood reduction?

Altricial birds often display biased preferences in providing parental care for their dependent offspring,especially during food shortages.During this process,such inflexible rules may result in provisioning errors.To demonstrate how parents optimize their provisioning strategies,we proposed a“diagnosis model”of parental care to posit that parents will undergo a diagnosis procedure to test whether selecting against some particular offspring based on phenotype is an optimal strategy.We tested this model in an asynchronous hatching bird,the Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus,based on 10 years of data about demography and parental provisioning behaviors.Given their higher daily survival rates,core offspring(those hatched on the first day)merits an investment priority compared with their marginal brood mates(those hatched on later days).However,a marginal offspring also merited a priority if it displayed greater weight gain than the expected value at the early post-hatching days.Parents could detect such a marginal offspring via a diagnosis strategy,in which they provisioned the brood at the diagnosis stage by delivering food to every nestling that begged,then biased food toward high-value nestlings at the subsequent decision stage by making a negative response to the begging of low-value nestlings.In this provisioning strategy,the growth performance of a nestling became a more reliable indicator of its investment value than its hatching order or competitive ability.Our findings provide evidence for this“diagnosis model of parental care”wherein parents use a diagnosis method to optimize their provisioning strategy in brood reduction.

A MODEL FOR CONTROL OF HIV/AIDS WITH PARENTAL CARE

In this study we investigate the HIV/AIDS epidemic in a population which experiences a significant flow of immigrants. We derive and analyze a mathematical model that describes the dynamics of HIV infection among the immigrant youths and how parental care can minimize or prevent the spread of the disease in the population. We analyze the model with both screening control and parental care, then investigate its stability and sensitivity behavior. We also conduct both qualitative and quantitative analyses. It is observed that in the absence of infected youths, disease-free equilibrium is achievable and is globally asymptotically stable. We establish optimal strategies for the control of the disease with screening and parental care, and provide numerical simulations to illustrate the analytic results.

Analysis of Professional Quality Cultivation Strategies for Infant and Child Care Service Talents from the Perspective of Collaboration of Medical Care,Parenting,and Education,and Integration of Industry and Education

The collaboration of medical care,parenting,and education aims to integrate nursing,midwifery,infant and child care services,and management with speech and hearing rehabilitation technology,among other elements related to the infant care industry chain.This integration targets pediatrics talent training in nine infant care positions,including nursing,infant health care and management,and child rehabilitation,to ensure that the capabilities and quality of professional talents can meet the health care needs of infants and young children.This article briefly explains the background of the“collaboration of medical care,parenting,and education,and integration of industry and education.”It analyzes the necessity of cultivating infant and child care service talents based on the perspective of“collaboration of medical care,parenting,and education,and integration of industry and education.”Based on this perspective,we conducted an in-depth study of the cultivation of professional qualities of infant and child care service talents.

A highly effective incubation strategy enhanced the urban bird hatch success

Urbanization is currently considered one of the most rapid types of global environmental change.Urban habitats are biotically and abiotically different from their rural areas,i.e.,the ambient temperature,predator,and food availability.These novel challenges create new selection pressures,which allow one to investigate ecoevolutionary responses to contemporary environmental change.A total of 118 breeding nests were monitored for nest predation in both urban and rural areas from 2018 to 2020.We used environmental factors from urban and rural areas and behavioral data from 439 Chinese Blackbird(Turdus mandarinus)valid incubation days to understand the impact of urbanization on the incubation behavior of blackbirds and its adaptation mechanism to the urban environment.Cities have warmer ambient temperatures and lower predation pressures than rural areas.Urban blackbirds chose the incubation strategy with shorter and more bouts,while rural blackbirds selected the incubation strategy with longer and fewer bouts.The plasticity of incubation behavior of urban blackbirds was higher than that of rural areas,and the range of egg temperature was also higher than that of rural areas.In addition,incubation temperature and the number of bouts per day were the key factors affecting the day survival rate of blackbirds,and the hatching rate of urban blackbirds was higher than that of rural blackbirds.Our results provide evidence for behavioral shifts in blackbirds during adaptation to urbanization and support the central role of behavioral adaptation in the successful colonization of new environments by wildlife.These help us understand the behavioral characteristics required for wildlife to live in cities and the urban adaptors faced environmental pressures.

Nest-site selection and breeding ecology of Streaked Wren-Babbler(Napothera brevicaudata)in a tropical limestone forest of southern China

Background: The breeding information of most birds in Asian tropical areas,especially in limestone forests,is still poorly known.The Streaked Wren-Babbler(Napothera brevicaudata) is an uncommon tropical limestone bird with a small range.We studied its nest-site selection and breeding ecology,in order to understand the adaptations of birds to the conditions of tropical limestone forest in southern China.Methods: We used methods of systematical searching and parent-following to locate the nests of the Streaked Wren-Babbler.We measured characteristics of nest sites and rock cavities.Data loggers and video cameras were used to monitor the breeding behavior.Results: All the observed nests of the Streaked Wren-Babbler were placed in natural shallow cavities or deep holes in large boulders or limestone cliffs.The great majority(96.6%) of Streaked Wren-Babbler nests had three eggs with an average fresh weight of 3.46-± 0.43 g(n = 36,range 2.52-4.20 g).Most(80.4%) females laid their first eggs between March and April(n = 46).The average incubation and nestling period of the Streaked Wren-Babbler was 10.2 range 9-11 days),respectively.Most(87.9%) nests h± 0.4 days(n = 5,range 1011 days) and 10.5 ± 0.8 days(n = 6,ad at least one nestling fledge between 2011 and 2013(n = 33).Conclusions: Our study suggests that several features of the breeding ecology of the Streaked Wren-Babbler,including building nests in rocky cavities,commencing breeding earlier than most species,and reducing foraging times during the incubation period,are well-adapted to the unique habitat of tropical limestone forest.

Significant Male Biased Sexual Size Dimorphism in Leptobrachium leishanensis

Sexual size dimorphism（SSD） is a widespread phenomenon among animals, and whose evolution and maintenance has been a central topic in evolutionary biology since Darwin＇s time. SSD varies in direction among the major taxonomic groups of animals and even within the same groups. In anurans, female biased SSD is the rule in many lineages, whereas male biased SSD is a rare phenomenon. In this paper, we analyze whether SSD exists inLeptobrachium leishanensis by comparing morphological characteristics between the sexes. Our results show that all six morphological characteristics measured are significantly different between the sexes. Males are significantly larger than females, indicating that the male biased SSD of this species is apparent. The size of the nuptial spines, a special secondary sex trait of males, is significantly and positively correlated with body size. We suggest that the resource defense polygyny mating system and parental care behavior may be explanations for the evolution of male biased SSD and nuptial spine development in this species.

No Male Preference for Large Females in the Asian Common Toad(Duttaphrynus melanostictus):Effect of the Sex Ratio and Breeding System

Mating preferences are common in natural populations of animals.Numerous studies have shown that male mate choice can occur in a wide range of taxa.However,male mating preferences are still poorly understood in anurans.Sexual selection theory predicts that male mate choice is not expected to arise if 1) adult population exhibited a highly male-biased sex ratio which will diminish male mating success;2) males provide less parental care;3) mating success of males is associated with chorus tenure in which males would maximize their fitness by mating with multiple mates.We tested these predictions in the Asian common toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus from southeastern Tibet,China.Our field experimental results indicated that,the breeding population exhibited a highly male-biased sex ratio,called males did not defend sites which contain significant resources required by females and offspring,both sexes provided no parental care after egg-laying,and the toad species was characterized with prolonged breeding season chorus attendance.In male mate choice experiment,males did not show preferences for a larger gravid female over a smaller gravid female.We suggest that male mating success in the Asian common toad is likely determined by the number but not the quality of mates.Future research should focus on how sexual selection on male acoustic signaling and how female preference exert different types of selection pressure on male call traits in this Tibet toad.

Differences in parents of pediatric liver transplantation and chronic liver disease patients

BACKGROUND With advancements in the treatment of chronic liver disease(CLD),including liver transplantation(LT),quality of life and satisfaction after LT have become an important issue for pediatric patients and their parents.More evidence-based information is needed to describe and assess the impact of pediatric CLD on parents and the satisfaction of parents with treatment to better understand their needs.AIM To assess the satisfaction of parents of pediatric LT patients and that of parents of pediatric CLD patients METHODS During this survey,data were collected from parents of pediatric patients who underwent LT between January 2010 and April 2017(LT group;n=91)and parents of pediatric patients with chronic liver disease(CLD group;n=94).Group comparisons were made based on the pediatric health-related quality of life(PedsQL)health care parent satisfaction scale,impact on family scale(IFS)and demographic characteristics.The PedsQL was administered to parents during a phone interview and the results were used to assess the health carerelated satisfaction of parents.The IFS was used to assess the impact of the child’s CLD status on the family.Demographic variables such as education level(elementary vs middle vs high vs university),monthly income(low vs middle vs high),and place of residence(village vs town vs city)were compared between CLD and LT parent groups.Finally,PedsQL and IFS results were also analyzed according to demographic variables.RESULTS A total of 185 parents aged 19 to 65 years were included.There were statistically significant differences between the LT and CLD groups in terms of career(P<0.001),monthly income(P=0.016),and education level(P=0.041).According to the PedsQL results,family inclusion,communication,technical skills,emotional needs,and overall satisfaction were significantly different between the groups;the LT group had consistently higher scores(P<0.001).Additionally,scores for the IFS parameters of financial impact,familial-social impact,personal strain,and total impact were consistently higher for the LT group(P<0.001).There were statistically significant relationships between education level,monthly income,and place of residence according to the IFS results but not the PedsQL results.There were inverse relationships between the difficulties that parents experience because of their child’s health and education levels,monthly income,and place of residence.However,no relationship was found between education level,monthly income,or place of residence and satisfaction with health care services provided in the hospital according to the PedsQL results.CONCLUSION Parents of children who underwent LT were very satisfied with the health care services provided to their children.However,they had more difficulties than parents of children with CLD.

Odor cues rather than personality affect tadpole deposition in a neotropical poison frog

Animals constantly need to evaluate available external and internal information to make appropriate decisions.Identifying,assessing,and acting on relevant cues in contexts such as mate choice,intra-sexual competition,and parental care is particularly important for optimizing individual reproductive success.Several factors can infuence decision-making,such as external environmental cues and the animal’s own internal state,yet,we have limited knowledge on how animals integrate available information.Here,we used an entire island population(57 males,53 females,and 1,109 tadpoles)of the neotropical brilliant-thighed poison frog Allobates femoralis to investigate how 2 factors(olfactory cues and personality traits)infuence the ability of males to fnd and use new resources for tadpole deposition.We experimentally manipulated the location of tadpole deposition sites and their associated olfactory cues,and repeatedly measured exploration and boldness in adult males.We further reconstructed tadpole deposition choices via inferred parent–offspring relationships of adult frogs and tadpoles deposited in our experimental pools using molecular parentage analysis.We found that the discovery and use of new rearing sites were heavily infuenced by olfactory cues;however,we did not fnd an effect of the measured behavioral traits on resource discovery and use.We conclude that in highly dynamic environments such as tropical rainforests,reliable external cues likely take priority over personality traits,helping individuals to discover and make use of reproductive resources.

Reproductive biology of harvestmen(Arachnida:Opiliones):a review of a rapidly evolving research field

Harvestmen are a major arachnid order that has experienced a dramatic increase in biological knowledge in the 21st century.The publication of the book Harvestmen:The Biology of Opiliones in 2007 stimulated the development of many behavioral studies.Although the book is relatively recent,our understanding of the reproductive biology of harvestmen is already outdated due to the fast accumulation of new data.Our goal is to provide an updated review of the subject to serve as a benchmark for the following years.In the pre-copulatory phase,we explore the evolu-tion of facultative parthenogenesis,the factors that may affect the types of mating system,and the role of nuptial gifts in courtship.Regarding the copulatory phase,harvestmen are unique arachnids because they have aflagellate spermatozoa and a penis with complex morphology.We discuss the implications of these two features for sperm competition and cryptic female choice.In the post-copulatory phase,we connect ovi-position site selection and climate conditions to the widespread occurrence of resource defense polygyny,alternative reproductive tactics,and sexual dimorphism in several clades of tropical harvestmen.Finally,we present the different forms of parental care in the order,and discuss the benefits and costs of this behavior,which can be performed either by females or males.Throughout the review,we indicate gaps in our knowl-edge and subjects that deserve further studies.Hopefully,the information synthesized here will stimulate researchers worldwide to embrace harvestmen as a study system and to improve our effort to unravel the mysteries of their reproductive biology.

Biparental behavior in the burying beetle Nicrophorus orbicollis： a role for dopamine？

Burying beetles Nicrophorus orbicollis exhibit facultative biparental care of young. To reproduce, a male-female burying beetle pair bury and prepare a small vertebrate carcass as food for its altricial young. During a breeding bout, male and female behavior changes synchronously at appropriate times and is coordinated to provide effective care for offspring. Although the ecologicaJ and evolutionary factors that shape this remarkable reproductive plasticity are well characterized, the neuromodulation of parental behavior is poorly understood. Juvenile hormone levels rise dramat- ically at the time beetle parents accept and feed larvae, remain highly elevated during the stages of most active care and fall abruptly when care is terminated. However, hormonal fluctuations alone cannot account for this elaborate control of reproduction. The biogenic amines octopamine （OA）, dopamine （DA）, and serotonin （5-HT） mediate a diversity of insect reproductive and social behav- iors. In this study, we measured whole brain monoamine levels in individual male and female bury- ing beetles and compared OA, DA, and 5-HT profiles between breeding （parental） and nonbreed- ing, unmated beetles. Remarkably, after 24 h of care, when parental feeding rates begin to peak, DA brain levels increase in breeding beetles when compared to nonbreeding controls. In contrast, brain OA and 5-HT levels did not change significantly. These results provide the first evidence for a potential role of DA in the modulation of burying beetle parental behavior.

Maternal egg care enhances hatching success and offspring quality in an oviparous skink

Maternal egg-caring behavior can often be observed in oviparous scincid lizards.The expression of such behavior is predictably affected by the trade-off between its resultant costs and benefits for mothers and/or offspring,which has been investigated in only a few scincid species.Here,post-ovipositional Plestiodon chinensis females were treated to care for their egg clutches without interference,under simulated predation pressure,or to be caredeprived.Potential maternal costs and offspring benefits associated with egg-caring behavior were then evaluated by measuring changes in maternal body condition,egg mortality,and hatchling performance.Egg-caring behavior caused post-ovipositional females to participate less in outside-nest activity,eat less food,and show relatively poorer body conditions at egg hatching.By contrast,compared with care-deprived females,egg-caring females gained mass slightly faster,and achieved a similar body condition within a few months of hatching.Eggs that were cared for by their mothers were more likely to hatch and produced larger,faster-running and better-growing hatchlings with higher survival than uncared-for eggs.Simulated exposure to a potential predator had no distinct impact on maternal egg-caring behavior expression and offspring performance.These results indicated that marked benefits of offspring viability but minor maternal energy costs might play a decisive role in the occurrence of maternal egg-caring behavior in P.chinensis.

Dominance network structure across reproductive contexts in the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher

While a large number of studies have described animal social networks, we have a poor understanding of how these networks vary with ecological and social conditions. For example, reproductive periods are an important life-history stage that may involve changes in dominance relationships among individuals, yet no study to date has compared social networks of do- minance interactions （i.e. dominance networks） across reproductive contexts. We first analyzed a long-term dataset on captive so- cial groups of the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologuspulcher, and found that eviction events were significantly more common around reproduction than expected by chance. Next, we compared the structure of dominance networks during early pa- rental care and non-reproductive periods, using one of the first applications of exponential random graph models in behavioral biology. Contrary to our predictions, we found that dominance networks showed few changes between early parental care and non-reproductive periods. We found no evidence that dominance interactions became more skewed towards larger individuals, became more frequent between similar-sized individuals, or became more biased towards a particular sex during parental care. However, we did find that there were relatively more dominance interactions between opposite-sex dyads in the early parental care period, which may be a by-product of increased sexual interactions during this time. This is the first study in behavioral ecology to compare social networks using exponential random graph modeling, and demonstrates a powerful analytical framework for future studies in the field [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 45-54, 2015].

What makes a cry a cry？ A review of infant distress vocalizations

In contrast to the cries of human infants, sounds made by non-human infants in different stressful behavioral contexts （hunger or physical discomfort, isolation, capture by humans or predators） are usually treated as distinct types of vocalizations. However, if distress vocalizations produced by different species and in different contexts share a common motivational state and associated neurochemical pathways, we can expect them to share a common acoustic structure and adaptive function, showing only limited variation that corresponds to the infant＇s level of arousal. Based on this premise, we review the acoustic structure and adaptive function of two types of distress calls, those given when infants were isolated from their mothers （isolation caUs） or captured by humans （capture calls）. We conducted a within-context comparison examining the two call types across a diverse se- lection of mammalian species and other vertebrate groups, followed by a comparison of how acoustic structure and function dif- fers between these contexts. In addition, we assessed acoustic traits that are critical to the response of caregivers. Across verte- brate species, distress vocalizations produced in these two behavioral contexts tend to be tonal with a simple chevron, flat or de- scending pattern of frequency modulation. Reports that both isolation and capture calls of vertebrate infants serve to attract care- givers are universal, and the fundamental frequency of infant vocalizations is often critical to this response. The results of our re- view are consistent with the hypothesis that differences in the acoustic structure of isolation and capture distress vocalizations re- flect differences in arousal, and not discrete functions. The similarity in acoustic structure and caregiver response observed across vertebrates adds support to the hypothesis that the production and processing of distress vocalizations are part of a highly-conserved system of social vocal behaviour in vertebrates. Bioacoustic research may move forward by recognizing the commonality among different forms of infant solicitations that attract caregivers, and the commonality of these solicitations with vocalizations that attract conspecifics in still other behavioral contexts [Current Zoology 58 （5）： 698-726, 2012].

Meta-analysis reveals that reproductive strategies are associated with sexual differences in oxidative balance across vertebrates

Oxidative stress is a key physiological mechanism underlying life-history tradeoffs. Here, I use meta-analytic techniques to test whether sexual differences in oxidative balance are common in vertebrates and to identify which factors are associated with such differences. The dataset included 732 effect size estimates from 100 articles （82 species）. Larger unsigned effect size （meaning larger sexual differences in a given marker） occurred in： reptiles and fish; those species that do not pro- vide parental care; and oviparous species. Estimates of signed effect size （positive values meaning higher oxidative stress in males） indicated that females were less resistant to oxidative stress than males in： reptiles while males and females were similar in fish, birds, and mammals; those species that do not provide parental care; and oviparous species. There was no evidence for a significant sexual differentiation in oxidative balance in fish, birds, and mammals. Effect size was not associ- ated with： the number of offspring; whether the experimental animals were reproducing or not; biomarker （oxidative damage, non-enzymatic, or enzymatic antioxidant）, the species body mass; the strain （wild vs. domestic）; or the study environment （wild vs. captivity）. Oxidative stress tended to be higher in females than males across most of the tissues analyzed. Levels of residual heterogeneity were high in all models tested. The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that diversification of reproductive strategies might be associated with sexual differences in oxidative balance. This explorative meta-analysis offers a starting platform for future research to investigate the rela-tionship between sex and oxidative balance further.

Fish embryo and juvenile size under hypoxia in the mouth- brooding African cichlid Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor

We used a field survey and a laboratory rearing experiment to （a） examine response （size and survival） to life-long hypoxia in offspring of the African maternal mouth-brooding cichlid Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae （Seegers） and （b） explore the degree to which developmental response can be environmentaUy-induced. Embryo size metrics were quantified in 9 field populations across a range of dissolved oxygen （DO） concentrations. In the laboratory, first generation （F1） broods of low-DO origin were reared under high or low DO. Brooding period was quantified for the mothers; and egg size, egg metabolic rate and juvenile size-at-release were quantified in their （F2） offspring. The F2 offspring were split and grown for 3 months post-release under high or low DO, and juvenile size and survival were quantified. In the field survey, across stages, embryos from low-DO field populations were shorter and weighed less than embryos from high-DO populations. In the laboratory experi- ment, F2 eggs and juveniles-at-release from mother＇s mouth did not differ in mass, length, survival regardless of development DO environment. However, juveniles diverged in size after leaving mother＇s mouth, exhibiting smaller size when grown under low DO. Size differences in embryo size across field populations and divergence in embryo size after release from the mother＇s mouth support predictions for smaller body size under hypoxia. There was no evidence for negative effects on survival of juveniles after 3 months. Brooding period was 16% shorter in females reared under low DO suggesting that hypoxia may accelerate embryo de- velopment. This work provides insights into how bearer fishes respond to hypoxic stress relative to fishes with no post-spawning parental care; a shorter brooding interval and smaller body size may provide an optimal solution to parent and embryo survival under hypoxia in brooding fishes [Current Zoology 58 （3）： 401-412, 2012].

Female mating competition alters female mating preferences in common gobies

Mating decisions can be affected by intrasexual competition and sensitive to operational sex-ratio （OSR） changes in the population. Conceptually, it is assumed that both male and female matecompetition may interfere with female reproductive decisions. Experimentally, however, the focus has been on the effect of male competition on mate choice. In many species with paternal care as in the common goby Pomatoschistus microps, the OSR is often female-biased and female matecompetition for access to available nesting males occurs. Using the same protocol for 3 experi- ments testing the effect of a perceived risk of female mate-competition, I studied female preferences for nest-holding males differing in its nest size （large/small）, body size （large/small）, and nest status （with/without eggs already in nest） and measured mating decisions, spawning latencies, and clutch size. Regardless of the social context, females preferred males with larger nests. A preference for large males was only expressed in presence of additional females. For nest status, there was a tendency for females to prefer mating with males with an empty nest. Here, female-female competition increased the propensity to mate. The results of this study show that females are sensitive to a female competitive social environment and suggest that in choice situations, females respond to the social context mainly by mating decisions per se rather than by adjusting the clutch size or spawning latency. Females base their mating decisions not only on a male＇s nest size but also on male size as an additional cue of mate quality in the presence of additional females.

Fitness consequences of divorce in the azure-winged magpie depends on the breeding experience of a new mate

Sexual conflict in producing and raising offspring is a critical issue in evolutionary ecology research.Individual experience affects their breeding performance,as measured by such traits of provisioning of offspring and engagement in extra-pair copulations,and may cause an imbalance in sexual conflict.Thus,divorce is hypothesized to occur within aged social pairs,irrespective of current reproductive success.This concept was explored in the azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus by investigating the divorce of a social pair and its relationship to their changes in breeding performance with prior experience.Females engaging in extra-pair copulation may intensify sexual conflicts and may be the main reason for divorce.Once divorced,females repairing with an inexperienced male realized higher reproductive success than that repairing with an experienced male;males repairing with an experienced female realized higher reproductive success than that repairing with an inexperienced female.This finding indicates that the fitness consequence of divorce depends on the breeding experience of new mates.Divorced females can obtain more extra-pair copulations,whereas divorced males cannot,when they repair with inexperienced breeders.Divorced females provisioned a brood at lower rates than inexperienced females whereas divorced males had no such difference.It appears that divorced females can obtain an advantage in sexual conflicts with inexperienced mates in future reproduction.Consequently,females are probably more active than males in divorcing their aged mates so as to select an inexperienced male as a new mate.Azure-winged magpies thus provide novel insights into the implicaticns of sexual conflict in birds.

Earwig mothers consume the feces of their juveniles during family life

Many animals consume the feces of their conspecifics.This allo-coprophagy can have benefits,such as access to nutrients and symbionts,but also risks for consumers,mainly due to direct contact with pathogens that develop on feces.In the European earwig Forficula auricularia,mothers and juveniles live in nests lined with their feces.This surprising habit allows juveniles to consume the feces of their siblings during family life and provides them with nutritional benefits when mothers provide low care.However,it was unclear whether earwig mothers also practice allo-coprophagy,and whether this behavior is motivated by their nutritional needs.Here,we set up four types of experimental families in which we manipulated the nutritional needs of mothers and/or juveniles and measured the effects on the production of feces by the juveniles,and the consumption of these feces by the mothers.Our results first show that fed juveniles produced more feces pellet in presence of fed compared to food-deprived mothers.We also found that,overall,about 50%of the mothers consumed juveniles feces.This consumption was both more likely and larger when the feces were produced by fed compared to food-deprived juveniles,while the proportion of feces pellets eaten was larger in food-deprived compared to fed mothers.Overall,our results reveal that allo-coprophagy involves every family member and suggest that it can have both nutritional and non-nutritional benefits for earwig mothers.Allo-coprophagy could thus favor the maintenance of mothers in the nest and,more generally,promote the early evolution of family life.

Interactions of sex and early life social experiences at two developmental stages shape nonapeptide receptor profiles

Early life social experiences are critical to behavioral and cognitive development,and can have a tremendous influence on developing social phenotypes.Most work has focused on outcomes of experiences at a single stage of development(e.g.perinatal or post-weaning).Few studies have assessed the impact of social experience at multiple developmental stages and across sex.Oxytocin and vasopressin are profoundly important for modulating social behavior and these nonapeptide systems are highly sensitive to developmental social experience,particularly in brain areas important for social behavior.We investigated whether oxytocin receptor(OTR)and vasopressin receptor(V1aR)distributions of prairie voles(Microtus ochrogaster)change as a function of parental composition within the natal nest or social composition after weaning.We raised pups either in the presence or absence of their fathers.At weaning,offspring were housed either individually or with a same-sex sibling.We also examined whether changes in receptor distributions are sexually dimorphic because the impact of the developmental environment on the nonapeptide system could be sex-dependent.We found that differences in nonapeptide receptor expression were region-specific,sex-specific and rearing condition-specific,indicating a high level of complexity in the ways that early life experiences shape the social brain.We found many more differences in V1aR density compared to OTR density,indicating that nonapeptide receptors demonstrate differential levels of neural plasticity and sensitivity to environmental and biological variables.Our data highlight that critical factors including biological sex and multiple experiences across the developmental continuum interact in complex ways to shape the social brain.