The Evolution of Sex Differences in Mammalian Social Life Histories

哺乳动物社会生活史中性别差异的演变

基本信息

批准号：
NE/S010327/1
负责人：
Darren Croft
金额：
$ 82.79万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2019 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FS010327%2F1
关键词：
Evolution Sex Differences Mammalian Social

项目摘要

Understanding why social behaviour and life histories have diverged between the sexes in long-lived social mammals, sometimes to an extreme degree, is a key objective in the biological, medical and social sciences. We propose that differences between the sexes in how males and females interact with related individuals across the lifespan are a major force driving the evolution of sex differences in both social behaviour and life history. In social species related individuals (kin) often live together in close knit family groups and individuals can influence the survival and reproductive success of their relatives both by their behaviour (cooperative and competitive) and reproductive decisions (if an individual reproduces it will use resources that may negatively impact on the survival and reproductive success of kin). Such interactions between kin are a strong evolutionary force, with individuals gaining indirect benefits (through the genes they share with relatives) by increasing the survival and reproductive success of their kin. For example, kin selection can favour individual strategies that increase the reproductive success of kin, even if this comes at a cost to an individual's survival and reproductive success. The opportunity for evolution to be shaped by kin selection is dependent on how and when related individuals interact. Our pilot work suggests that in many species males and females experience very different patterns of local relatedness across their lifespans (kinship dynamics) due to patterns of dispersal and mating. For example, for some species such as killer whales, females become more related to their local group with age whereas males, in contrast, become less related. We hypothesise that sex differences in kinship dynamics will be a major force driving the evolution of sex differences in both (i) social behaviour and (ii) life history. We will determine the role of kinship dynamics in driving the evolution of sex differences in social behaviour and life history evolution using a combination of theoretical modelling and empirical data analysis. We will develop a general theory of kinship dynamics and develop new models to predict both the patterns of kinship dynamics and their consequences for the evolution of social life histories in both males and females. Our model will make predictions for patterns of helping and harming in social groups including both behavioural traits (cooperation and conflict) and reproductive traits (e.g. age at first or last reproduction). We will provide the first test of the behavioural predictions of our new theory by collecting new data on patterns of helping (e.g. babysitting and food sharing) and harming (aggression) in resident killer whales using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Resident killer whales are ideally suited to testing the behavioural predictions of the model - they have extreme sex differences in kinship dynamics and have unexplained sex differences in life history. We will test the life history predictions of the theoretical framework by comparing patterns of kinship dynamics and sex differences in life history evolution (e.g. patterns of growth, age at first reproduction, age at last reproduction, reproductive investment and longevity) across social mammals which will allow us to determine the role of kinship dynamics in driving life history evolution and the divergence of life histories between the sexes.

理解为什么长期寿命的社会哺乳动物中的男女之间存在分歧，有时是极端的，这是生物学，医学和社会科学的关键目标。我们建议，男性和女性与整个生命周期中相关个体的互动方式之间的差异是推动社会行为和生活历史上性别差异演变的主要力量。在社会物种相关的人（亲人）中，经常以紧密联系的家庭和个人生活在一起，可以通过其行为（合作和竞争性）和生殖决策来影响其亲戚的生存和生殖成功（如果一个人复制它将使用可能对KIN生存和生殖成功产生负面影响的资源）。亲属之间的这种相互作用是强大的进化力，个体通过增加亲属的生存和生殖成功，从而获得间接益处（通过与亲戚共享的基因）获得了间接的益处。例如，KIN选择可以偏爱增加亲属生殖成功的个体策略，即使这是为了支付个人的生存和生殖成功的代价。通过亲属选择来塑造进化的机会取决于相关人员如何以及何时相互作用。我们的飞行员工作表明，在许多物种中，由于分散和交配的模式，男性和女性在其寿命（亲属动力学）之间的当地相关性模式非常不同。例如，对于某些物种（例如杀手鲸），女性随着年龄的增长而与其当地群体相关，而男性相反，男性的关系较小。我们假设，亲属动力学的性别差异将是推动（i）社会行为和（ii）生活史的性别差异演变的主要力量。我们将通过理论建模和经验数据分析的结合来确定亲属动态在推动社会行为和生活历史演变中的性别差异演变中的作用。我们将开发一种有关亲属动力学的一般理论，并开发新的模型，以预测男性和女性社会生活历史的演变的亲属动力学模式及其后果。我们的模型将对社会群体的帮助和伤害模式做出预测，包括行为特征（合作和冲突）和生殖特征（例如，首先或最后一个生殖年龄）。我们将通过收集有关帮助模式（例如保姆和食物共享）和使用无人驾驶汽车（无人驾驶飞机）的杀手鲸中的帮助模式（例如保姆和食物共享）的新数据（例如保姆和食物共享）和损害（侵略性）的新理论的行为预测的首次测试。居民杀手鲸非常适合测试模型的行为预测 - 它们在亲属动力学上具有极端的性别差异，并且在生活史上具有无法解释的性别差异。我们将通过比较生活历史演变中的亲属动态和性别差异的模式来测试理论框架的生活历史预测（例如，成长的模式，首次繁殖时代的年龄，最后繁殖时代的年龄，生殖投资和寿命）跨社会哺乳动物，这将使我们能够确定生命历史的亲属动力学在生活中的作用，并使人的生命传播范围差异。