Incubation behaviour and hatching synchrony differ in wild and captive populations of the zebra finch
Hatching asynchrony is widespread in birds laying clutches containing multiple eggs, yet is seemingly paradoxical as the age and size hierarchies result in asymmetric sibling competition and low survival prospects for late-hatched nestlings. We examined the causes of variation in hatching asynchrony between broods of zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, in three environments: domesticated, captive wild […]
A test of maternal programming of offspring stress response to predation risk in threespine sticklebacks
Non-genetic maternal effects are widespread across taxa and challenge our traditional understanding of inheritance. Maternal experience with predators, for example, can have lifelong consequences for offspring traits, including fitness. Previous work in threespine sticklebacks showed that females exposed to simulated predation risk produced eggs with higher cortisol content and offspring with altered anti-predator behavior. However, […]