大熊猫母兽育幼早期应激水平与母幼行为的关系

大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)属于晚熟性动物,育幼早期是幼仔存活和生长发育的关键时期,也是幼仔最易夭折时期。为了解大熊猫产后应激水平及其与母幼行为之间的关系,从行为适应机制的角度提高幼仔存活率,本研究利用酶联免疫吸附法监测7只处于育幼早期(产后0～75日)母兽粪便皮质醇含量,采用焦点动物取样法观测3对母幼个体的行为。结果显示：(1)育幼早期母兽皮质醇含量随幼仔日龄增长总体呈下降趋势(r=-0.950,P<0.001);(2)幼仔断奶前与断奶后相比,母兽皮质醇含量无显著差异(t=-0.935,P=0.361);(3)母兽皮质醇含量与母幼联系(r=0.918,P<0.001)、幼仔尖叫(r=0.777,P=0.001)和休息行为(r=0.731,P=0.002)均呈极显著正相关,与采食行为呈显著负相关(r=-0.608,P=0.016),而与舔幼仔行为不相关(r=0.366,P=0.179)。结果表明,大熊猫母兽育幼早期粪便皮质醇含量变化与幼仔生长发育有关,推测母兽的应激强度可能随幼仔御寒能力及自主活动能力的提升而降低;皮质醇可能参与母性行为调节,有助于...     

大熊猫母兽可根据幼仔的尖叫声辨别自己的后代

研究表明,群居哺乳动物具备通过叫声进行母幼识别的机制,而有关独栖动物的母幼识别机制鲜有研究。大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)是典型的独栖动物,原始森林是保持野生大熊猫种群数量可持续发展的必要条件,其中的大型古树提供的育幼巢穴对大熊猫幼仔的存活至关重要。但是,近年来大型古树因受人为干扰而急剧减少,致使野生成年雌性大熊猫活动领域的重叠增大,在育幼期产仔大熊猫母兽对育幼巢穴的利用产生了竞争。大熊猫幼仔的体重约为成年大熊猫的0.1%,幼仔需要母兽高度关怀才能存活和成长。叫声是0-45日龄大熊猫幼仔向其母兽传递生理需求或所处状态的主要方式。然而,母兽能否根据幼仔的叫声识别自己的后代,目前尚无定论。本研究以274条大熊猫幼仔的尖叫声为例,首先对其进行个体独特性分析,然后通过叫声回放以及母兽对所回放的两种叫声的行为反应,验证大熊猫母兽能否辨别出其亲生幼仔。结果发现,尖叫声的17个声学参数中有14个具有潜在的个体判别能力(PIC>1);进一步的判别分析结果显示,基于这17个声学参数,78.5%的尖叫声被正确分配到对应的幼仔;叫声回放实验的结果显示,母兽在行为上更倾向其亲生幼...     

首例圈养大熊猫产后出血的治疗及初生幼仔长途运输初探

中国保护大熊猫研究中心雅安碧峰峡基地的一只雌性大熊猫分娩后发生产后出血,采取促进子宫收缩、减少出血、利用抗菌素药物防止感染的原则对母兽进行治疗,4d后恢复正常。治疗期间取出两只初生幼仔,利用自制人工保温箱将幼仔成功地从雅安长途运回卧龙进行人工育幼;并对母兽进行育幼行为培训以保持母性行为,母兽康复后主动接受幼仔成功哺育成活。     

哺乳动物母性行为影响因素

新生幼仔通常非常脆弱,需要亲代抚育才能成活,哺乳动物的亲代抚育主要由雌性完成。雌性在分娩前后所展现出的寻找分娩地点、筑造产房、分娩、舔仔、授乳、护仔等一系列动作称为母性行为,其对家养及野生动物幼仔的成活和发育均至关重要。母性行为受遗传、管理等因素影响,环境中残留的各类新型污染物也给正常母性行为的激发和维持带来了新挑战。此外,虽然母性行为是评判优良个体的重要参考,但由于母性行为性状遗传力低,这使得仅从遗传角度很难做出科学评价,而应结合行为表观遗传学综合分析上述因素对母性行为的整体影响。综述了遗传、营养、环境、管理以及疾病等因素对哺乳动物母性行为的影响,并重点指出塑化剂、重金属等残留在环境中的内分泌干扰物,以及电磁污染、光污染等是母性行为异常的新诱因。此外,还对动物生产及野生动物保护工作中如何在遗传学基础上,综合优化营养、环境、管理等措施来改善和培育优良母性行为性状提出了展望。可为下一步深入探究哺乳动物母性行为影响因素及调控机制提供参考,并为预防和改善动物母性行为异常以及提高动物母性照料能力提供依据,同时,还能为探索生态健康养殖、提高母幼福利提供一定的参考。     

大熊猫母性行为培驯

圈养大熊猫初产母兽弃仔和抚育行为不当是导致幼仔死亡的主要原因之一。针对这种情况 ,从 1 998～ 2 0 0 0年 ,分别采用幼仔模型、尿液、叫声录音、实体和乳汁等多种刺激信号 ,对 1只弃仔的雌性大熊猫 (谱系号 :446)母性行为培训的结果表明 ,首先采用幼仔模型、尿液、叫声录音和乳汁等多种信号的刺激 ,有助于弃仔的初产母兽再接受其幼仔。进一步对母兽抚育行为的培训 ,其母性行为逐年增强 ,并最终掌握各项育幼技能 ,使幼仔存活率得到显著提高。     

大熊猫母性行为培训

圈养大熊猫初产母兽弃仔和抚育行为不当是导致幼仔死亡的主要原因之一。针对这种情况,从1998－2000年,分别采用幼仔模型、尿液、叫声录音、实体和乳汁等多种刺激信号,对1只弃仔的雌性大熊猫（谱系号：446）母性行为培训的结果表明,首先采用幼仔模型、尿液、叫声录音和乳汁等多种信号的刺激,有助于弃仔的初产母兽再接受其幼仔。进一步对母兽抚育行为的培训,其母性行为逐年增强,并最终掌握各项育幼技能,使幼仔存活率得到显著提高。     

大熊猫超轻初生幼仔人工哺育初探

大熊猫是存活率较低的动物之一 ,究其原因可能与其幼仔初生体重较轻有关 ,特别是与绝大多数哺乳动物相比 ,其幼仔初生重与母兽体重差异极大 ,约为母兽体重的千分之一 [1] ,加之大熊猫育幼行为高度特化 ,其幼仔存活更为不易。自 1 990年采用人工辅助育幼方式繁殖成活大熊猫双胞胎以来 ,人工圈养条件下 ,大熊猫的育幼方式概括起来有如下 4种 :1 )大熊猫母兽自行哺育 ,这是自 1 963年至今最常用的方式 ;2 )人工辅助大熊猫母兽育幼 [2 ] ,现已存活 5对双胞胎 [3] ;3)用大熊猫初乳与羊乳混合喂养 ,全人工育幼 [4 ,5] ,目前已育成 2只大熊猫 [5] ;…     

圈养大熊猫母兽成功哺育双胞胎成活初探

圈养大熊猫产下双胞胎后,母兽一般难以同时哺育二仔。2003年,圈养大熊猫母兽“梅梅”同时哺育双胞胎成活,本文对该首例哺育双胞胎成活的原因进行了初步分析,认为满足母兽的营养需求、适宜的育幼环境及人工护理,特别是“梅梅”的母性好、有丰富的育幼经验、食欲强、泌乳充足等在同时哺育双胞胎成活中起着重要作用,同时对“梅梅”哺育的双胞胎与其哺育的另两只单胎幼仔的体重增长情况进行了比较,为圈养大熊猫成功哺育双胞胎,增加幼仔成活率,提供了有关借鉴信息和资料。     

圈养大熊猫初生幼仔声音通讯行为研究

对很多动物来说,特别是刚出生的、视觉、身体运动能力等发育不健全的幼体,声音信号的识别与传递是其种群长期续存的重要保障。由于大熊猫Ailuropoda melanoleuca新生幼仔不具备自主移动能力且双眼紧闭,主要依靠声音与母体进行交流,因此,利用Shure VP89M指向性麦克风和Tascam DR-100MKII录音设备对0～45 d大熊猫幼仔的声音进行采集,在Adobe audition 3.0内对采集的信息进行分析,同时,利用焦点动物取样法对哺乳期雌性大熊猫的行为进行详细记录。研究结果发现,1)大熊猫幼仔的声音主要为Squawk、Squall和Croak。Squall基频值(1 160.96 Hz±224.99 Hz)和主频值(2 239.94 Hz±742.73 Hz)最高,Squawk的基频值(820.53 Hz±160.45 Hz)和主频值(931.98 Hz±435.12 Hz)次之,而Croak的基频值(728.74 Hz±120.34 Hz)和主频值(735.92 Hz±138.48 Hz)最低;2)幼仔发出叫声后,母兽的回应率和行为类型均随叫声类型不同而不同:母兽对幼仔叫声的回应率为62%,其中Squall的回应率最高(67.4%),回应的行为以舔仔为主;其次是Croak(59.0%),以舔仔为主;而Squawk最低(57.8%),以叼仔为主。大熊猫幼仔初期仅仅依赖声音与母体交流,在充分了解其声音特征的基础上,掌握幼仔与母兽间的互动行为,有助于更深入了解圈养大熊猫的育幼行为,为育幼过程中的人工干预提供科学依据。     

人工辅助大熊猫母兽哺乳幼仔研究

2004年大熊猫母兽“蜀庆”(谱系号480)产仔后,虽能抱仔保温但不会哺乳幼仔,经人工辅助让幼仔吃上母乳,幼仔生长发育良好。本文报道了160天内幼仔吮乳的情况,收集了幼仔日吮乳次数、吮乳时间分布、日吮乳量及其与体重的关系等资料。结果表明:1)人工辅助母兽哺乳是解决性情温顺、母性好、有乳汁,但不会哺乳的母兽哺乳幼仔问题的方法;2)大熊猫幼仔每日吮乳次数由1~6前6天的12次左右,逐渐减少并固定在48天后的2次左右;80天内,幼仔吮乳时间在每日的平均分布有4个高峰时间段和4个低谷时间段;3)0~35天间,幼仔日吮乳量(y)与日龄(x)的关系可用公式y=6.2228 x+11.184(R2=0.9258)表示,日吮乳量随日龄增长而呈直线增加,35天后幼仔日吮乳量随日龄增长波动上升;4)幼仔日吮乳量与体重比在1~19天为30.22±1.31%,处于整个育幼期的高水平,之后逐渐下降,95天后稳定在3.92±0.10%的低水平。     

The thrifty phenotype hypothesis: thrifty offspring or thrifty mother?

Medical research is increasingly focusing on the contribution of nutritional programming to disease in later life. Programming is a process whereby a stimulus during a critical window of time permanently affects subsequent structure, function or developmental schedule of the organism. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis is widely used to interpret such studies, with early growth restriction seen as adaptation to environmental deprivation. However, such permanent adjustment is less beneficial than maintaining flexibility so as to recover from early growth deficits if the environment improves. Thus, the existing thrifty phenotype hypothesis fails to explain why plasticity is lost so early in development in species with extended growth. One explanation is that the developing organism simply cannot maintain phenotypic plasticity throughout the period of organ growth. This article adds a life history perspective, arguing that programming of the offspring may in some species benefit maternal fitness more than it does that of individual offspring. Closing the critical window early in development allows the preservation of maternal strategy in offspring phenotype, which in humans benefits the mother by constraining offspring demand after weaning. The offspring gains by being buffered against environmental fluctuations during the most sensitive period of development, allowing coherent adaptation of organ growth to the state of the environment. The critical window is predicted to close when offspring physiology becomes independent of maternal physiology, the timing of which depends on offspring trait. Because placental nutrition and lactation buffer against short-term environmental fluctuations, maternal strategy is predicted to derive from long-term experience, encapsulated in maternal size and nutritional status. Such an approach implies that public health programmes for improving birth weight may be more effective if they target maternal development rather than nutrition during pregnancy. Equally, aggressive nutritional management of infants born small or pre-term may induce the very environmental fluctuations that are naturally softened by maternal nutrition.     

Olfactory regulation of maternal behavior in mammals

In mammals, olfactory cues are extensively used in many aspects of maternal care to ensure the coordination of mother-infant interactions and consequently the normal development of the offspring. Outside the period of parturition and lactation, when the young are not a behavioral priority, olfactory cues play an inhibitory role on maternal responsiveness since in most mammalian species studied so far, nonpregnant females find the odor of young aversive. On the contrary at the time of parturition, a shift in the hedonic value of infantile odors occurs so that the young now become a very potent stimulus and this sensorial processing constitutes an important part of the maternal motivational system. Moreover, infants' odors provide a basis for individual recognition by their mothers and some species (ungulates) have developed highly specialized mechanisms for processing of the infant signals. Perception of the smell of the young also regulates various aspects of maternal behavior. Dodecyl propionate, a compound released by of pup's preputial glands, has been shown to influence anogenital licking behavior, a fundamental pattern of maternal behavior in rodents. While there is no functional specificity of either the main or the accessory olfactory systems in the development of maternal behavior amongst species, it appears that only the main olfactory system is implicated when individual odor discrimination of the young is required. Neural structures, such as the main olfactory bulb, undergo profound changes when exposed to offspring odors at parturition. These changes in synaptic circuitry contribute both to maternal responsiveness to these odors, to their memorization, and to effects of long-term maternal experience.     

昆虫的母代效应

母代效应,由于其特殊的作用方式,引起了许多进化生态学家的极大兴趣。近年来,随着研究的不断深入,特别是数量遗传学的引入,使该领域的研究取得了令人瞩目的成绩。该文就这几十年来对母代效应研究进行综述,论述昆虫生活史中的母代效应及其适应意义,阐明以下几个问题：（1）母代效应影响昆虫哪些特征;（2）环境因素对母代效应的影响;（3）母代对环境刺激的敏感期;（4）子代受母代效应调控的敏感期;（5）母代效应调控子代生长发育的生化机制;（6）种群内和种群间母代效应的基因差异。     

Initial levels of maternally derived antibodies predict persistence time in offspring circulation

Vertebrate mothers transmit antibodies to offspring that provide humoral immunity early in life. The duration of protection provided by maternal antibodies varies considerably among species and has not been widely examined in birds. Determination of the length of maternal protection can be a useful predictor of when young are most likely to be susceptible to infection. The duration of maternal antibody protection was determined in Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) by immunizing females with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and then collecting blood samples from offspring. Maternal antibodies remained detectable in offspring circulation for an average of 14 days (range 3–28). The duration of persistence was predicted by antibody levels as measured in maternal circulation, within egg yolks, or measured in offspring shortly after hatch. Thus, the primary benefit to offspring of high concentrations of maternal antibodies is likely to be an extended period of maternal protection during early growth and development.     

Evidence for inbreeding depression in a species with limited opportunity for maternal effects

It is often assumed that mating with close relatives reduces offspring fitness. In such cases, reduced offspring fitness may arise from inbreeding depression (i.e., genetic effects of elevated homozygosity) or from post‐mating maternal investment. This can be due to a reduction in female investment after mating with genetically incompatible males (“differential allocation”) or compensation for incompatibility (“reproductive compensation”). Here, we looked at the effects of mating with relatives on offspring fitness in mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki. In this species, females are assumed to be nonplacental and to allocate resources to eggs before fertilization, limiting differential allocation. We looked at the effects of mating with a brother or with an unrelated male on brood size, offspring size, gestation period, and early offspring growth. Mating with a relative reduced the number of offspring at birth, but there was no difference in the likelihood of breeding, gestation time, nor in the size or growth of these offspring. We suggest that due to limited potential for maternal effects to influence these traits that any reduction in offspring fitness, or lack thereof, can be explained by inbreeding depression rather than by maternal effects. We highlight the importance of considering the potential role of maternal effects when studying inbreeding depression and encourage further studies in other Poeciliid species with different degrees of placentation to test whether maternal effects mask or amplify any genetic effects of mating with relatives.     

Fitness consequences of parental compatibility in the frog Crinia georgiana

Theory suggests that multiple mating by females can evolve as a mechanism for acquiring compatible genes that promote offspring fitness. Genetic compatibility models predict that differences in fitness among offspring arise from interactions between male and female haplotypes. Using a cross-classified breeding design and in vitro fertilization, we raised families of maternal and paternal half-siblings of the frog Crinia georgiana, a species with a polyandrous breeding system and external fertilization. After controlling for variation in maternal provisioning, we found significant effects of interacting parental haplotypes on fertilization success, and nonadditive genetic effects on measures of offspring fitness such as embryo survival, and survival to, size at, and time to metamorphosis. Additive genetic variation due to males and females was negligible, and not statistically significant for any of the fitness traits measured. Combinations of parental haplotypes that resulted in high rates of fertilization produced offspring with higher embryo survival and rapid juvenile development. We suggest that a gamete recognition mechanism for selective fertilization by compatible sperm may promote offspring fitness in this system.     

Opportunistic mothers: female marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii) reduce their investment in offspring when they have to, and when they can

All female primates incur energetic costs associated with producing and caring for offspring, but females belonging to the New World primate family Callitrichidae, the marmosets and tamarins, appear to face even further demands. In fact, the energetic demands of rearing callitrichid infants are thought to have led to the evolution of cooperative infant care in these species. If this explanation is true, then one might expect that natural selection should also have shaped patterns of maternal behavior to be sensitive to the costs of reproduction and equipped females to reduce their investment in offspring under certain conditions. Therefore, we examined the maternal effort and postpartum endocrine profiles of individual female marmosets (Callithrix kuhlii) across conditions that represented two hallmarks of callitrichid reproduction-conception during the early postpartum period and alloparental assistance. When females conceived during the early postpartum period and faced the upcoming demands of caring for their newly conceived litters (Study 1), they significantly reduced their caregiving effort and had significantly higher postpartum levels of estradiol relative to breeding attempts in which conception occurred later in the postpartum period. Postpartum estradiol was negatively correlated with maternal carrying effort. When experienced alloparents were present (Study 2), females again reduced their caregiving effort relative to breeding attempts in which experienced alloparents were not present. Postpartum cortisol, however, did not vary as a function of experienced alloparental assistance. The results of these studies suggest that female marmosets have been subjected to similar selection pressures as females of other primate taxa--to maximize their reproductive success by reducing their investment in offspring under the worst and best of conditions--and suggest that hormones may mediate within-female variation in maternal care. These studies also provide support for the notion that mothers are "flexible opportunists" when it comes to providing care to their young.     

Are species differences in maternal effects arising from maternal care adaptive?

Parental care benefits offspring through maternal effects influencing their development, growth and survival. However, although parental care in general is likely the result of adaptive evolution, it does not follow that specific differences in the maternal effects that arise from care are also adaptive. Here, we used an interspecific cross‐fostering design in the burying beetle species Nicrophorus orbicollis and N. vespilloides, both of which have elaborate parental care involving direct feeding of regurgitated food to offspring, to test whether maternal effects are optimized within a species and therefore adaptive. Using a full‐factorial design, we first demonstrated that N. orbicollis care for offspring longer regardless of recipient species. We then examined offspring development and mass in offspring reared by hetero‐ or conspecific parents. As expected, there were species‐specific direct effects independent of the maternal effects, as N. orbicollis larvae were larger and took longer to develop than N. vespilloides regardless of caregiver. We also found significant differences in maternal effects: N. vespilloides maternal care caused more rapid development of offspring of either species. Contrary to expectations if maternal effects were species‐specific, there were no significant interactions between caretaker and recipient species for either development time or mass, suggesting that these maternal effects are general rather than optimized within species. We suggest that rather than coadaptation between parents and offspring performance, the species differences in maternal effects may be correlated with direct effects, and that their evolution is driven by selection on those direct effects.     

Of mammals and milk: how maternal stress affects nursing offspring

1. A large body of research shows that maternal stress during an offspring’s early life can impact its phenotype in both the short and long term. In the Vertebrata, most research has been focused on maternal stress during the prenatal period. However, the postnatal period is particularly important in mammals because maternal milk provides a conduit by which maternal hormones secreted in response to stressors (glucocorticoids, GCs) can reach offspring. Moreover, lactation outlasts gestation in many species.
2. Though GCs were first detected in milk over 40 years ago, few studies have explored how they affect nursing offspring, and no reviews have been written on how maternal stress affects nursing offspring in the natural world.
3. We discuss the evolution of milk and highlight its importance in each of the three mammalian lineages: monotremes (subclass Monotremata), marsupials (infraclass Marsupialia), and eutherians (infraclass Placentalia). Most research on the effects of milk GCs on offspring has been focused on eutherians, but monotremes and marsupials rely on their mothers’ milk for a proportionally longer period of time, and so research on these taxa may yield more insight.
4. We show that GCs are important for milk production, both during an individual nursing bout and over the entire lactation period, and review evidence of GCs moving from maternal blood to milk, and eventually to nursing offspring. We examine evidence from rodents and primates of associations between GC levels in lactating females (either blood or milk) and offspring behaviour and growth rates. We discuss ways that maternal stress may impact these offspring phenotypes outside of milk GCs, such as changes to: (1) milk output, (2) other milk constituents (e.g. macronutrients, growth factors, cytokines), and (3) maternal care behaviour.
5. Critical to understanding the fitness impacts of elevated maternal GC levels during lactation is to place this within the context of the natural environment. Species-specific traits and natural histories will help us to understand why such maternal stress produces different offspring phenotypes that equip them to cope with and succeed in the environment they are about to enter.

     

Linking life‐history theory and metabolic theory explains the offspring size‐temperature relationship

Temperature often affects maternal investment in offspring. Across and within species, mothers in colder environments generally produce larger offspring than mothers in warmer environments, but the underlying drivers of this relationship remain unresolved. We formally evaluated the ubiquity of the temperature–offspring size relationship and found strong support for a negative relationship across a wide variety of ectotherms. We then tested an explanation for this relationship that formally links life‐history and metabolic theories. We estimated the costs of development across temperatures using a series of laboratory experiments on model organisms, and a meta‐analysis across 72 species of ectotherms spanning five phyla. We found that both metabolic and developmental rates increase with temperature, but developmental rate is more temperature sensitive than metabolic rate, such that the overall costs of development decrease with temperature. Hence, within a species’ natural temperature range, development at relatively cooler temperatures requires mothers to produce larger, better provisioned offspring.