Sex difference and intrasexual variation in ornaments of cooperatively breeding species: testing social selection theory

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H03733
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies
• Principal Investigator: Kutsukake Nobuyuki 総合研究大学院大学, 統合進化科学研究センター, 教授 (20435647)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 協同繁殖 / 社会行動 / 協力行動 / 脊椎動物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this project was to study parenting behavior by non-parents in vertebrates and to identify similarity, diversity, functions and constraints found among taxa. In particular, this project aimed to clarify a payoff structure of those parental behavior, its effects on a group and parents, particularly in cooperative breeding species. The main finding of this project was that in Betta brownorum, fish that has been believed to be a cooperatively breeder, the presence of non-breeding individuals reduced burden of the breeding individuals. This is consistent with the criteria for cooperative breeding used in studies of fishes and suggests that this species may be a cooperative breeder.

Free Research Field

行動生態学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、脊椎動物における親以外の個体による子育て行動に関する理解を大きく広げた。とくに、ベタ・ブロウノルムが新たな協同繁殖種である可能性を示し、魚類における協力的社会の進化の新しい側面を明らかにした。また、親以外の個体による世話行動を多様な分類群で研究し、一般性・概念性の高い理論の構築を行った点も本科研費プロジェクトの主要な成果である。今後、論文を掲載する際にはプレスリリースを行い、成果を一般社会に分かりやすく公開する。