Ansell's mole-rats (Fukomys anselli) are subterranean rodents living in families composed of about 20 members with a single breeding pair and their non-breeding offspring. Most of them remain with their parents for their lifetime and help to maintain and defend the natal burrow system, forage, and care for younger siblings. Since incest avoidance is based on individual recognition (and not on s...

Sexually mature, male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were housed in large communal breeding cages or in smaller paired breeding cages. Virgin control rats of the same age were housed similarly but segregated by sex. Breeders became obese, developed a fatty liver, and showed elevated levels of triglycerides, free fatty acids, and cholesterol. Breeders had high blood pressure, enlarged hearts, hy...

Straightbred and crossbred heifers (165) and cows (241) that were nonpregnant after exposure to fertile bulls for two consecutive breeding periods of 45 to 60 d (repeat breeders) and contemporary cows (102) that had produced a calf in the previous calving season (controls) were placed with bulls and were observed for mating. Repeat-breeder and control females were slaughtered at 2 to 51 d postm...

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs), where members of the same sex and population show distinct reproductive phenotypes governed by decision-rules, have been well-documented in males of many species, but are less well understood in females. The relative plasticity hypothesis (RPH) predicts that switches between plastic ARTs are mediated by changes in steroid hormones. This has received much...

In many cooperatively breeding societies, helping effort varies greatly among group members, raising the question of why dominant individuals tolerate lazy subordinates. In groups of carrion crows Corvus corone corone, helpers at the nest increase breeders' reproductive success, but chick provisioning is unevenly distributed among non-breeders, with a gradient that ranges from individuals that ...

The treefrog genus Boophis is one of the most species-rich endemic amphibian groups of Madagascar. It consists of species specialized to breeding in brooks (48 species) and ponds (10 species). We reconstructed the phylogeny of Boophis using 16S ribosomal DNA sequences (558 bp) from 27 species. Brook-breeders were monophyletic and probably derived from an ancestral pond-breeding lineage. Pond-br...