Group size and visitor number predict faecal glucocorticoid concentrations in zoo meerkats

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is freely available from Royal Society via the DOI in this record.Measures of physiological stress in zoo animals can give important insights into how they are affected by aspects of their captive environment. We analysed the factors influencing variation in glucocorticoid metabolites in faeces (fGCs) from zoo meerkats as a proxy for blood cortisol concentration, high levels of which are associated with a stress response. Levels of fGCs in captive meerkats declined with increasing group size. Compared to data from wild meerkats, this contrasts with the patterns seen in large stabile groups but matches the pattern seen in dispersing coalitions. In the wild, very small groups of meerkats are at a higher risk of predation, while in larger groups there is increased competition for resources. Indeed, group sizes in captivity tend to be closer to those seen in unstable coalitions in the wild, which may represent a stressful condition to meerkats in captivity and predispose them to chronic stress, even in absence of natural predators. Individuals in large enclosures showed lower levels of stress, but meerkat density had no effect on the stress measures. In contrast to data from wild meerkats, neither sex, age, nor dominance status predicted physiological stress levels in captivity, which may reflect less food stress owing to more equal access to resources in captivity versus wild. Median number of visitors at the enclosure was positively correlated with fGC concentrations on the following day, with variation in the visitor numbers having the opposite effect. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that there is an optimum group size which minimises physiological stress in meerkats, and that zoo meerkats at most risk of physiological stress are those kept in small groups and small enclosures and are exposed to consistently high numbers of visitors.Funding was provided by a European Social Fund studentship and a Society for Endocrinology grant awarded to K.S., and by NERC grant awarded to M.A.C. (NE/J010278/1)

Unrelated Helpers in a Primitively Eusocial Wasp: Is Helping Tailored Towards Direct Fitness?

The paper wasp Polistes dominulus is unique among the social insects in that nearly one-third of co-foundresses are completely unrelated to the dominant individual whose offspring they help to rear and yet reproductive skew is high. These unrelated subordinates stand to gain direct fitness through nest inheritance, raising the question of whether their behaviour is adaptively tailored towards maximizing inheritance prospects. Unusually, in this species, a wealth of theory and empirical data allows us to predict how unrelated subordinates should behave. Based on these predictions, here we compare helping in subordinates that are unrelated or related to the dominant wasp across an extensive range of field-based behavioural contexts. We find no differences in foraging effort, defense behaviour, aggression or inheritance rank between unrelated helpers and their related counterparts. Our study provides no evidence, across a number of behavioural scenarios, that the behaviour of unrelated subordinates is adaptively modified to promote direct fitness interests

Safe nights out: Workers’ perspectives on tackling violence against women and girls

Existing research focused on workers within the night-timeeconomy (NTE) is limited. In this unique study, research was conducted with workers from a wide range of professions and occupations. The study garnered important insights into NTE workers’ understanding and experience of violence against women and girls (VAWG). Workers observed a strong relationship between alcohol consumption and VAWG and were knowledgeable about spiking, perceiving this practice to be growing. Strong protocols were in place to support women when spiking was alleged. The understanding of VAWG was, in contrast, broad but inconsistent. NTE workers provide myriad ways to support and protect women who are out at night. However, responses to potential incidents of VAWG are shaped by intuition, rather than being rooted in formal knowledge and institutional protocols. The decision to intervene is usually based on NTE workers’ levels of experience, confidence, and subjective perception of risk – described as ‘going with your gut’. There were, however, some good examples of where formal training had been provided and found to be useful. Specifically,there was evidence that many of the initiatives established as part of the Safer Streets project were making a difference. Respondents valued the training that they had received (such as zero-tolerance), and they recognised the important role that Street Pastors provide. Nevertheless, several training gaps were identified. Specifically, workers reported that they wanted to be better equipped to identify potential perpetrators of crime and would welcome advice on how to enhance personal and customer safety. NTE workers would also benefit from knowing more about the location and value of safe havens. The study showed that while many venues offer support to customers, there is some inconsistency in the way that safety measures are advertised and enacted

Live long and prosper : durable benefits of early-life care in banded mongooses

Kin selection theory defines the conditions for which altruism or 'helping' can be favoured by natural selection. Tests of this theory in cooperatively breeding animals have focused on the short-term benefits to the recipients of help, such as improved growth or survival to adulthood. However, research on early-life effects suggests that there may be more durable, lifelong fitness impacts to the recipients of help, which in theory should strengthen selection for helping. Here, we show in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) that care received in the first 3 months of life has lifelong fitness benefits for both male and female recipients. In this species, adult helpers called 'escorts' form exclusive one-to-one caring relationships with specific pups (not their own offspring), allowing us to isolate the effects of being escorted on later reproduction and survival. Pups that were more closely escorted were heavier at sexual maturity, which was associated with higher lifetime reproductive success for both sexes. Moreover, for female offspring, lifetime reproductive success increased with the level of escorting received per se, over and above any effect on body mass. Our results suggest that early-life social care has durable benefits to offspring of both sexes in this species. Given the well-established developmental effects of early-life care in laboratory animals and humans, we suggest that similar effects are likely to be widespread in social animals more generally. We discuss some of the implications of durable fitness benefits for the evolution of intergenerational helping in cooperative animal societies, including humans. This article is part of the theme issue 'Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.Peer reviewe

Causes and consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative banded mongooses

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier Masson via the DOI in this record.Conflict between groups is a notable feature of many animal societies. Recent theoretical models suggest that violent intergroup conflict can shape patterns of within-group cooperation. However, despite its prevalence in social species, the adaptive significance of violent intergroup conflict has been little explored outside of humans and chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. A barrier to current understanding of the role of intergroup conflict in the evolution of social behaviour is a lack of information on the causes and consequences of aggression between groups. Here, we examined the causes and fitness consequences of intergroup conflict in the banded mongoose, Mungos mungo, using a 16-year data set of observed intergroup interactions, life history and behaviour. Banded mongooses are cooperative breeders that live in highly territorial groups and engage in frequent, aggressive and violent intergroup interactions. We found that intensified population-wide competition for food and mates increased the probability of intergroup interactions, and that increased intergroup conflict was associated with periods in which groups were growing in size. Intergroup conflict had fitness costs in terms of reduced litter and adult survival but no cost to pregnant females: in fact, females were less likely to abort following an intergroup interaction than when there had been no recent intergroup conflict. Our results suggest that intergroup conflict has measurable costs to both individuals and groups in the long and short term, and that levels of conflict among groups could be high enough to affect patterns of within-group cooperative behaviour. Establishing the consequences of intergroup conflict in cooperative species can shed light on patterns of conflict and cooperation within groups and, in turn, facilitate our understanding of social evolution.Funding was provided by a Natural Environment Research Council grant no. NE/J010278/1 to M.A.C. and a European Research Council grant no. 309249 to M.A.C

Dietary Cucumis melo Reduces Markers of Muscle and Articular Inflammation Following High-intensity Exercise in Horses

We evaluated the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory potential of daily oral supplementation with a proprietary powdered Cucumis melo pulp (CMP) on exercise-induced markers of articular and muscular oxidative stress and inflammation in 12 horses. Horses performed a high-intensity exercise test immediately prior to, and then following, 3 weeks of daily supplementation of 1 g powdered CMP (CMP; n=8). Controls (Co; n=8) underwent the same exercise and sampling regime but were not supplemented. Blood and synovial fluid (SF) samples were taken 24 h prior to exercise (BL), and at 1 and 24 h following exercise. Plasma and SF were analysed for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), total antioxidant status (TAS), nitrite and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. SF was analysed for glycosaminoglycans (GAG), and plasma was analysed for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Comparisons were made using repeated measures with the initial exercise test as a covariate. There was an increase in SF SOD activity in the CMP group. Compared to Co at 1 h, CMP reduced nitrite and GAG in SF, as well as maintained plasma TAS and lymphocyte levels. At 24 h, plasma PGE2 and creatine kinase were lower in horses receiving CMP. Three weeks of supplementation with CMP reduced markers of articular and skeletal muscle oxidative stress and inflammation in response to high-intensity exercise in horses. Nutritive antioxidants may provide a useful adjunct to the daily nutrition plan of horses undergoing regular exercise training and competition

Global Health Needs Modernized Containment Strategies to Prepare for the Next Pandemic

COVID-19 continues to be a public health crisis, while severely impacting global financial markets causing significant economic and social hardship. As with any emerging disease, pharmaceutical interventions required time, emphasizing the initial and continuing need for non-pharmaceutical interventions. We highlight the role of anthropological and historical perspectives to inform approaches to non-pharmaceutical interventions for future preparedness. The National Academy of Medicine, a not-for-profit, non-governmental US-based medical watchdog organization, published a key document early in the COVID-19 pandemic which points to inadequate quarantine and containment infrastructure as a significant obstacle to an effective pandemic response. In considering how to implement effective quarantine policies and infrastructure, we argue that it is essential to take a longitudinal approach to assess interventions that have been effective in past pandemics while simultaneously addressing and eliminating the negative socio-historical legacies of ineffective quarantine practices. Our overview reinforces the need for social equity and compassion when implementing containment

Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine

Variation in early-life conditions can trigger developmental switches that lead to predictable individual differences in adult behaviour and physiology. Despite evidence for such early-life effects being widespread both in humans and throughout the animal kingdom, the evolutionary causes and consequences of this developmental plasticity remain unclear. The current issue aims to bring together studies of early-life effects from the fields of both evolutionary ecology and biomedicine to synthesise and advance current knowledge of how information is used during development, the mechanisms involved, and how early-life effects evolved. We hope this will stimulate further research into early-life effects, improving our understanding of why individuals differ and how this might influence their susceptibility to disease. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine’.</p