Social regulation of reproduction: control or signal?

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Authors

Chiara Benvenuto, Maria Cristina Lorenzi

Abstract

Traditionally, dominant breeders have been considered able to control other individuals’ reproduction in multi-member groups with high variance in reproductive success/reproductive skew (e.g., forced sterility on subordinate conspecifics in eusocial animals; suppression of sex change in sequential hermaphrodites). These actions are typically presented as active impositions by reproductively dominant individuals. However, how can individuals regulate the physiological reproductive state of others? Alternatively, less reproductively successful individuals could self-restrain from reproduction in presence of dominant breeders. Shifting perspective from a top-down manipulation to a broader view (which includes all contestants) and using a multi-taxa approach, we propose a resolution of reproductive-skew conflicts based on signalling rather than control, along a continuum of levels of strategic regulation of reproduction.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.32942/X2B59V

Subjects

Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

Eusociality; Hermaphroditism; Cooperative breeding; Dominance; Communication; Social control

Dates

Published: 2023-01-13 00:43

License

CC-By Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Additional Metadata

Conflict of interest statement:
None

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