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Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses

Thompson, Faye J.; Marshall, Harry H.; Sanderson, Jennifer L.; Vitikainen, Emma I. K.; Nichols, Hazel J.; Gilchrist, Jason S.; Young, Andrew J.; Hodge, Sarah J.; Cant, Michael A.

Authors

Faye J. Thompson

Harry H. Marshall

Jennifer L. Sanderson

Emma I. K. Vitikainen

Hazel J. Nichols

Andrew J. Young

Sarah J. Hodge

Michael A. Cant



Abstract

In many vertebrate societies, forced eviction of group members is an important determinant of population structure, but little is known about what triggers eviction. Three main explanations are: (i) the reproductive competition hypothesis, (ii) the coercion of cooperation hypothesis, and (iii) the adaptive forced dispersal hypothesis. The last hypothesis proposes that dominant individuals use eviction as an adaptive strategy to propagate copies of their alleles through a highly structured population. We tested these hypotheses as explanations for eviction in cooperatively breeding banded mongooses (Mungos mungo), using a 16-year dataset on life history, behaviour and relatedness. In this species, groups of females, or mixed-sex groups, are periodically evicted en masse. Our evidence suggests that reproductive competition is the main ultimate trigger for eviction for both sexes. We find little evidence that mass eviction is used to coerce helping, or as a mechanism to force dispersal of relatives into the population. Eviction of females changes the landscape of reproductive competition for remaining males, which may explain why males are evicted alongside females. Our results show that the consequences of resolving within-group conflict resonate through groups and populations to affect population structure, with important implications for social evolution.

Citation

Thompson, F. J., Marshall, H. H., Sanderson, J. L., Vitikainen, E. I. K., Nichols, H. J., Gilchrist, J. S., Young, A. J., Hodge, S. J., & Cant, M. A. (2016). Reproductive competition triggers mass eviction in cooperative banded mongooses. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1826), 20152607. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2607

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 8, 2016
Online Publication Date Mar 2, 2016
Publication Date Mar 16, 2016
Deposit Date Jun 7, 2016
Publicly Available Date Nov 22, 2019
Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Print ISSN 0962-8452
Electronic ISSN 1471-2954
Publisher Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 283
Issue 1826
Pages 20152607
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2607
Keywords Coercion; conflict; cooperation; eviction; forced dispersal; reproductive competition
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/10345
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2607

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