Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents

Fully integrative approach to the socibiology of caviomorph rodents

• Brings together research on social systems with that on epigenetic, neurendocrine and developmental mechanisms of social behavior

• Describes the social systems of many previously understudied caviomorph species, identifying the fitness costs and benefits of social living in current day populations as well as quantified evolutionary patterns or trends

• Highlights potential parallels and differences with other animal models

Autorentext
Luis A. Ebensperger, P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
Luis Ebensperger has developed a research career to examine causes (ecological, evolutionary) and consequences of rodent social living. He has successfullycombined field observational, demographical, and lab approaches to address why animals congregate, how they cooperate, and what are the fitness effectsof group-living and cooperation. His recent work has addressed the neuroendocrine and immune responses of social mammals and the links between these mechanisms and direct fitness. He has been able to acquire evidence not only from several caviomorph rodent models, but also from other animal models, including ungulates. In addition to publishing research papers in high impact journals, he has produced papers aimed to summarize andprovide an integrative view to current social behavior theory. Loren D. Hayes, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA
Loren Hayes' research program examines the ecological and neural drivers of social systems, costs and benefits of communal care, and fitness consequences of group-living. Hayes has successfully combined field and laboratory work to determine the mechanisms of maternal investment and neuroendocrine sources of direct fitness variation in social voles and degus, respectively. His NSF-funded program includes collaborations in Chile, the U.S., and Taiwan and has generated 30 peer-reviewed papers, including two synthetic reviews on an integrated theory for sociality. Additionally, he co-organized a workshop on vertebrate sociality in Chile, participated in a National Evolutionary Synthesis Center working group on integrative animal sociality, and co-coordinated a Journal of Mammalogy Special Feature on caviomorph social systems.

Zusammenfassung
Fully integrative approach to the socibiology of caviomorph rodents

• Brings together research on social systems with that on epigenetic, neurendocrine and developmental mechanisms of social behavior

• Describes the social systems of many previously understudied caviomorph species, identifying the fitness costs and benefits of social living in current day populations as well as quantified evolutionary patterns or trends

• Highlights potential parallels and differences with other animal models

Inhalt

Acknowledgments ix

Notes on contributors xi

Introduction xv

1 The caviomorph rodents: distribution and ecological diversification 1
Ricardo A. Ojeda, Agustina A. Ojeda and Agustina Novillo

2 Diversity of social behavior in caviomorph rodents 28
Christine R. Maher and Joseph R. Burger

3 Comparative neurobiology and genetics of mammalian social behavior 59
Annaliese Beery, Yasmin Kamal, Raúl Sobrero and Loren D. Hayes

4 Developmental underpinnings of social behavior 91
Valentina Colonnello, Ruth C. Newberry and Jaak Panksepp

5 Dispersal in caviomorph rodents 119
Eileen A. Lacey

6 Mechanisms of social communication in caviomorph rodents 147
Gabriel Francescoli, Selene Nogueira and Cristian Schleich

7 Causes and evolution of group-living 173
Luis A. Ebensperger and Loren D. Hayes

8 Rodent sociality: a comparison between caviomorphs and other rodent model systems 201
Nancy G. Solomon and Brian Keane

9 Cooperation in caviomorphs 228
Rodrigo A. Vásquez

10 Caviomorphs as models for the evolution of mating systems in mammals 253
Emilio A. Herrera

11 Parent-offspring and sibling-sibling interactions in caviomorph rodents: a search for elusive patterns 273
Zuleyma Tang-Martínez and Elizabeth R. Congdon

12 Fitness consequences of social systems 306
Loren D. Hayes and Luis A. Ebensperger

13 An integrative view of caviomorph social behavior 326
Luis A. Ebensperger and Loren D. Hayes

Glossary 356

Index 371