The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated
Background The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is among the most social mammals on the planet, living in eusocial groups of up to 300 individuals that contain a single reproductive female and up to three reproductive males. A critical aspect of their complex social system is the division of l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-09-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/9891.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797420583802109952 |
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| author | James D. Gilbert Stephen J. Rossiter Chris G. Faulkes |
| author_facet | James D. Gilbert Stephen J. Rossiter Chris G. Faulkes |
| author_sort | James D. Gilbert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is among the most social mammals on the planet, living in eusocial groups of up to 300 individuals that contain a single reproductive female and up to three reproductive males. A critical aspect of their complex social system is the division of labour that allows non-breeders to form an effective workforce. Age- or weight-based polyethisms are widely cited as explanations for how labour is divided, but evidence in support of these hypotheses has been equivocal. Methods To assess the extent to which individual working behaviour is determined by sex, age, weight and social rank, we studied the behaviours of 103 animals from eight captive colonies. We performed focal sampling and ran mixed-effects models to assess which factors explained variation in working behaviour during six ten-minute observation periods per individual. Results Contrary to widely-held beliefs, we found that working behaviour did not decrease linearly with weight, although polynomial regressions indicated younger and medium-sized individuals worked most frequently, while high-ranking individuals worked for the shortest periods of time. Working behaviour and its relationship with individual characteristics also varied between colonies. Conclusions While age- or size-based polyethisms may have some influence on working behaviour, we argue that other characteristics of the individual and colony are also important. In particular, the interactions of individual, social and environmental factors must be considered in order to understand the emergence and effectiveness of the division of labour that is so critical to many social organisms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:03:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cd5b6c46b5754caba6a173dcd1287284 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:03:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-cd5b6c46b5754caba6a173dcd12872842023-12-03T09:46:29ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-09-018e989110.7717/peerj.9891The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicatedJames D. Gilbert0Stephen J. Rossiter1Chris G. Faulkes2School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomSchool of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomSchool of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United KingdomBackground The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is among the most social mammals on the planet, living in eusocial groups of up to 300 individuals that contain a single reproductive female and up to three reproductive males. A critical aspect of their complex social system is the division of labour that allows non-breeders to form an effective workforce. Age- or weight-based polyethisms are widely cited as explanations for how labour is divided, but evidence in support of these hypotheses has been equivocal. Methods To assess the extent to which individual working behaviour is determined by sex, age, weight and social rank, we studied the behaviours of 103 animals from eight captive colonies. We performed focal sampling and ran mixed-effects models to assess which factors explained variation in working behaviour during six ten-minute observation periods per individual. Results Contrary to widely-held beliefs, we found that working behaviour did not decrease linearly with weight, although polynomial regressions indicated younger and medium-sized individuals worked most frequently, while high-ranking individuals worked for the shortest periods of time. Working behaviour and its relationship with individual characteristics also varied between colonies. Conclusions While age- or size-based polyethisms may have some influence on working behaviour, we argue that other characteristics of the individual and colony are also important. In particular, the interactions of individual, social and environmental factors must be considered in order to understand the emergence and effectiveness of the division of labour that is so critical to many social organisms.https://peerj.com/articles/9891.pdfNaked mole-ratEusocialSocialityEvolutionDivision of labourPolyethism |
| spellingShingle | James D. Gilbert Stephen J. Rossiter Chris G. Faulkes The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated PeerJ Naked mole-rat Eusocial Sociality Evolution Division of labour Polyethism |
| title | The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated |
| title_full | The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated |
| title_fullStr | The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated |
| title_full_unstemmed | The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated |
| title_short | The relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole-rats: it’s complicated |
| title_sort | relationship between individual phenotype and the division of labour in naked mole rats it s complicated |
| topic | Naked mole-rat Eusocial Sociality Evolution Division of labour Polyethism |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/9891.pdf |
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