Life Science Weekly
Welcome to NewsRx!
Learn more about a six-week, no-risk free trial of Life Science Weekly
We're a pay-per-view site for premium content. If you'd like to purchase this article, it's only $3.00.
Animal Behavior
Indiscriminate nursing in communal breeders may stem non-recognition of kin
March 31st, 2003
In several communally nesting mammal species, females indiscriminately nurse each others' offspring. Previous hypotheses have suggested that the inability to recognize one's own young during lactation is the result of costs incurred by recognition errors. In an article that appeared in the March 2003 issue of Ecology Letters, researchers from Cambridge University proposed an alternative hypothesis based on sexual conflict theory and genomic imprinting. In the absence of lifetime monogamy, males and females have conflicting interests over the amount of maternal investment in offspring, with males favoring more maternal investment than is...
Source: Life Science Weekly (2003-03-31)
|
