Male synchrony: individual variation, epigenetic drivers and the overall effect on reproductive success in multilevel alliances of wild dolphins

雄性同步性：野生海豚多级联盟中的个体变异、表观遗传驱动因素以及对繁殖成功的总体影响

• 批准号: EP/X021394/1
• 负责人: Danai Papageorgiou
• 金额: $ 24.26万
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX021394%2F1
• 关键词: Male; synchrony; individual; variation; epigenetic

Group-living animals express a wide range of social behaviours to attract mates, confront competitors and cooperate with allies toincrease Darwinian fitness. Group members differ from each other in characteristics such as age or sex, but also in their ability toengage in social behaviours. Inter-individual variation in social behaviours has been proven challenging to investigate in the wild andis potentially driven by gene expression and physiological mechanisms, shaped by the environment and an individual's experience.Synchronous displays are social behaviours, hallmarks of many animal societies, with well known examples including male lancetailedmanakins, fiddler crabs and katydids which all express coordinated behaviours. Individuals that engage in such synchronousdisplays may differ in their abilities to synchronise with group mates, but it is hard to track such differences. The above-mentionedexamples are driven by female choice and male competition. However, in humans the causes of synchrony are strongly linked tocooperation. Male dolphins also synchronize motor and acoustic displays and cooperate in the pursuit of females, with someindividuals potentially being capable of more precise coordination. Such synchrony in dolphins may have evolved to promote withinalliance social bonding and cooperation in a context where males need to work together to herd a female and defend her from rivals,yet they are also competing for an indivisible resource (fertilization). This project will determine whether more precise motor andacoustic synchrony in wild male bottlenose dolphins leads to increased reproductive success and investigate patterns of DNAmethylation in males that vary in their level of coordinated behaviour. Combining behavioural and bioinformatic analysis will shedlight on the drivers and effects of behavioural variation on fitness, and will determine if synchrony is an adaptive feature ofcoalitionary behaviour that is not limited to humans.

群居动物表现出广泛的社会行为来吸引配偶、对抗竞争对手以及与盟友合作以增强达尔文适应性。群体成员在年龄或性别等特征上各不相同，而且参与社会行为的能力也各不相同。事实证明，在野外研究个体间社会行为的差异具有挑战性，并且可能由基因表达和生理机制驱动，并由环境和个体的经历塑造。同步显示是社会行为，是许多动物社会的标志，众所周知例如雄性矛尾侏儒鸟、招潮蟹和螽斯，它们都表现出协调的行为。进行这种同步显示的个体与群体成员同步的能力可能有所不同，但很难追踪这种差异。上述例子都是由女性选择和男性竞争驱动的。然而，在人类中，同步的原因与合作密切相关。雄性海豚也会同步运动和声音表现，并在追逐雌性海豚时进行合作，其中一些个体可能具有更精确的协调能力。海豚的这种同步性可能是为了促进联盟内的社会联系和合作而进化的，在这种情况下，雄性需要共同努力放牧雌性并保护其免受竞争对手的侵害，但它们也在争夺不可分割的资源（受精）。该项目将确定野生雄性宽吻海豚更精确的运动和声学同步是否会提高繁殖成功率，并研究雄性宽吻海豚协调行为水平不同的 DNA 甲基化模式。结合行为和生物信息学分析将揭示行为变化对健康的驱动因素和影响，并将确定同步是否是联盟行为的适应性特征，而不仅限于人类。