Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores
Caring for newborn offspring hampers resource acquisition of mammalian females, curbing their ability to meet the high energy expenditure of early lactation. Newborns are particularly vulnerable, and, among the large herbivores, ungulates have evolved a continuum of neonatal antipredator tactics, ra...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2024
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| _version_ | 1824458658246819840 |
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| author | Atmeh, K Bonenfant, C Gaillard, J-M Droge, E |
| author_facet | Atmeh, K Bonenfant, C Gaillard, J-M Droge, E |
| author_sort | Atmeh, K |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Caring for newborn offspring hampers resource acquisition of mammalian females, curbing their ability to meet the high energy expenditure of early lactation. Newborns are particularly vulnerable, and, among the large herbivores, ungulates have evolved a continuum of neonatal antipredator tactics, ranging from immobile hider (such as roe deer fawns or impala calves) to highly mobile follower offspring (such as reindeer calves or chamois kids). How these tactics constrain female movements around parturition is unknown, particularly within the current context of increasing habitat fragmentation and earlier plant phenology caused by global warming. Here, using a comparative analysis across 54 populations of 23 species of large herbivores from 5 ungulate families (Bovidae, Cervidae, Equidae, Antilocapridae and Giraffidae), we show that mothers adjust their movements to variation in resource productivity and heterogeneity according to their offspring’s neonatal tactic. Mothers with hider offspring are unable to exploit environments where the variability of resources occurs at a broad scale, which might alter resource allocation compared with mothers with follower offspring. Our findings reveal that the overlooked neonatal tactic plays a key role for predicting how species are coping with environmental variation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:23:25Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:115f9f00-6b31-43a4-aa43-ac6d50ab8e95 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:29:23Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:115f9f00-6b31-43a4-aa43-ac6d50ab8e952024-12-19T09:08:43ZNeonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivoresJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:115f9f00-6b31-43a4-aa43-ac6d50ab8e95EnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2024Atmeh, KBonenfant, CGaillard, J-MDroge, ECaring for newborn offspring hampers resource acquisition of mammalian females, curbing their ability to meet the high energy expenditure of early lactation. Newborns are particularly vulnerable, and, among the large herbivores, ungulates have evolved a continuum of neonatal antipredator tactics, ranging from immobile hider (such as roe deer fawns or impala calves) to highly mobile follower offspring (such as reindeer calves or chamois kids). How these tactics constrain female movements around parturition is unknown, particularly within the current context of increasing habitat fragmentation and earlier plant phenology caused by global warming. Here, using a comparative analysis across 54 populations of 23 species of large herbivores from 5 ungulate families (Bovidae, Cervidae, Equidae, Antilocapridae and Giraffidae), we show that mothers adjust their movements to variation in resource productivity and heterogeneity according to their offspring’s neonatal tactic. Mothers with hider offspring are unable to exploit environments where the variability of resources occurs at a broad scale, which might alter resource allocation compared with mothers with follower offspring. Our findings reveal that the overlooked neonatal tactic plays a key role for predicting how species are coping with environmental variation. |
| spellingShingle | Atmeh, K Bonenfant, C Gaillard, J-M Droge, E Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| title | Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| title_full | Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| title_fullStr | Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| title_full_unstemmed | Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| title_short | Neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| title_sort | neonatal antipredator tactics shape female movement patterns in large herbivores |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT atmehk neonatalantipredatortacticsshapefemalemovementpatternsinlargeherbivores AT bonenfantc neonatalantipredatortacticsshapefemalemovementpatternsinlargeherbivores AT gaillardjm neonatalantipredatortacticsshapefemalemovementpatternsinlargeherbivores AT drogee neonatalantipredatortacticsshapefemalemovementpatternsinlargeherbivores |