Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

8 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Aid to a declining matriarch in the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis).

ABSTRACT: Scientists are increasingly revealing the commonalities between the intellectual, emotional and moral capacities of animals and humans. Providing assistance to elderly and ailing family members is a human trait rarely documented for wild animals, other than anecdotal accounts. Here I report observations of multiple forms of assistance to the declining matriarch of a habituated group of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) in Manu National Park, Peru. The otter group had been observed annually for several years and all members were known individually. In 2007, the breeding female of the group failed to reproduce and appeared to be in physical decline. She begged from other family members 43 times over 41 contact hours and received food 11 times. Comparisons with 2004-2006 demonstrate that the family's behavior in 2007 constitutes a role-reversal, in which the majority of assistance and prey transfers accrued from young-to-old rather than from old-to-young. As in human societies, both non-adaptive and adaptive hypotheses could explain the family members' aid to their declining matriarch. I suggest that giant otter families may benefit from the knowledge and experience of an elderly matriarch and "grandparent helper," consistent with the "Grandmother Hypothesis" of adaptive menopause in women.

SUBMITTER: Davenport LC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2894880 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Territorial choruses of giant otter groups (Pteronura brasiliensis) encode information on group identity.

Project description:Group living animals often engage in corporate territorial defence. Territorial group vocalizations can provide information about group identity, size and composition. Neighbouring groups may use this information to avoid unfavourable direct conflicts. Giant otters are highly social and territorial animals with an elaborate vocal repertoire. They produce long-range screams when they are alert or excited, i.e. in an alarm, isolation or begging context. Long-range screams are not only produced by one individual at a time ('single screams') but also by multiple group members simultaneously, resulting in a highly conspicuous 'group chorus'. Wild giant otters regularly produce group choruses during interactions with predators, when they detect intruders in their territory or before group reunions after separation. Since single screams and especially group choruses probably contribute to the groups' corporate territorial defence, we hypothesized that group identity is encoded in single screams and group choruses. We analysed vocalizations from five wild and three captive giant otter groups and found statistical evidence for a group signature in group choruses. Results for single screams were less conclusive, which might have been caused by the comparatively lower sample size. We suggest that giant otters may gain information on group identity by listening to group choruses. Group identity likely constitutes important social information for giant otters since territory boundaries of neighbouring groups can overlap and direct inter-group conflicts are severe. Therefore, group chorusing may contribute to the mutual avoidance of members from different groups.

| S-EPMC5638252 | biostudies-literature

Demography of the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) in Manu National Park, south-eastern Peru: implications for conservation.

Project description:The giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is an endangered semi-aquatic carnivore of South America. We present findings on the demography of a population inhabiting the floodplain of Manu National Park, south-eastern Peru, arising from 14 annual dry season censuses over a 16 year period. The breeding system of territorial groups, including only a single breeding female with non-reproductive adult 'helpers', resulted in a low intrinsic rate of increase (0.03) and a slow recovery from decades of hunting for the pelt trade. This is explained by a combination of factors: (1) physiological traits such as late age at first reproduction and long generation time, (2) a high degree of reproductive skew, (3) small litters produced only once a year, and (4) a 50% mortality between den emergence and age of dispersal, as well as high mortality amongst dispersers (especially males). Female and male giant otters show similar traits with respect to average reproductive life-spans (female 5.4 yrs., male 5.2 yrs.) and average cub productivity (female 6.9, male 6.7 cubs per lifetime); the longest reproductive life spans were 11 and 13 years respectively. Individual reproductive success varied substantially and depended mainly on the duration of dominance tenure in the territory. When breeding females died, the reproductive position in the group was usually occupied by sisters or daughters (n?=?11), with immigrant male partners. Male philopatry was not observed. The vulnerability of the Manu giant otter population to anthropogenic disturbance emphasises the importance of effective protection of core lake habitats in particular. Riverine forests are the most endangered ecosystem in the Department of Madre de Dios due to the concentration of gold mining, logging and agricultural activities in floodplains, highlighting the need for a giant otter habitat conservation corridor along the Madre de Dios River.

| S-EPMC4146611 | biostudies-literature

The vocal repertoire of adult and neonate giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis).

Project description:Animals use vocalizations to exchange information about external events, their own physical or motivational state, or about individuality and social affiliation. Infant babbling can enhance the development of the full adult vocal repertoire by providing ample opportunity for practice. Giant otters are very social and frequently vocalizing animals. They live in highly cohesive groups, generally including a reproductive pair and their offspring born in different years. This basic social structure may vary in the degree of relatedness of the group members. Individuals engage in shared group activities and different social roles and thus, the social organization of giant otters provides a basis for complex and long-term individual relationships. We recorded and analysed the vocalizations of adult and neonate giant otters from wild and captive groups. We classified the adult vocalizations according to their acoustic structure, and described their main behavioural context. Additionally, we present the first description of vocalizations uttered in babbling bouts of new born giant otters. We expected to find 1) a sophisticated vocal repertoire that would reflect the species' complex social organisation, 2) that giant otter vocalizations have a clear relationship between signal structure and function, and 3) that the vocal repertoire of new born giant otters would comprise age-specific vocalizations as well as precursors of the adult repertoire. We found a vocal repertoire with 22 distinct vocalization types produced by adults and 11 vocalization types within the babbling bouts of the neonates. A comparison within the otter subfamily suggests a relation between vocal and social complexity, with the giant otters being the socially and vocally most complex species.

| S-EPMC4229255 | biostudies-literature

Cooperative problem solving in giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) and Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea).

Project description:Cooperative problem solving has gained a lot of attention over the past two decades, but the range of species studied is still small. This limits the possibility of understanding the evolution of the socio-cognitive underpinnings of cooperation. Lutrinae show significant variations in socio-ecology, but their cognitive abilities are not well studied. In the first experimental study of otter social cognition, we presented two species-giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters-with a cooperative problem-solving task. The loose string task requires two individuals to simultaneously pull on either end of a rope in order to access food. This task has been used with a larger number of species (for the most part primates and birds) and thus allows for wider cross-species comparison. We found no differences in performance between species. Both giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters were able to solve the task successfully when the coordination requirements were minimal. However, when the temporal coordination demands were increased, performance decreased either due to a lack of understanding of the role of a partner or due to difficulty inhibiting action. In conclusion, two species of otters show some ability to cooperate, quite similar to most other species presented with the same task. However, to draw further conclusions and more nuanced comparisons between the two otter species, further studies with varied methodologies will be necessary.

| S-EPMC5640742 | biostudies-literature

Pteronura brasiliensis isolate:BS51

Project description:Pteronura brasiliensis isolate:BS51 Genome sequencing and assembly

| PRJNA399365 | ENA

Territoriality of giant otter groups in an area with seasonal flooding.

Project description:Territoriality carries costs and benefits, which are commonly affected by the spatial and temporal abundance and predictability of food, and by intruder pressure. Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) live in groups that defend territories along river channels during the dry season using chemical signals, loud vocalizations and agonistic encounters. However, little is known about the territoriality of giant otters during the rainy season, when groups leave their dry season territories and follow fish dispersing into flooded areas. The objective of this study was to analyze long-term territoriality of giant otter groups in a seasonal environment. The linear extensions of the territories of 10 giant otter groups were determined based on locations of active dens, latrines and scent marks in each season. Some groups overlapped the limits of neighboring territories. The total territory extent of giant otters was correlated with group size in both seasons. The extent of exclusive territories of giant otter groups was negatively related to the number of adults present in adjacent groups. Territory fidelity ranged from 0 to 100% between seasons. Some groups maintained their territory for long periods, which demanded constant effort in marking and re-establishing their territories during the wet season. These results indicate that the defense capacity of groups had an important role in the maintenance of giant otter territories across seasons, which may also affect the reproductive success of alpha pairs.

| S-EPMC4425482 | biostudies-literature

The economics of malaria control in an age of declining aid.

Project description:This article examines financing in the fight against malaria. After briefly describing malaria control plans in Africa since 2000, it offers a stylized model of the economics of malaria and shows how health aid can help escape the malaria trap.

| S-EPMC6538702 | biostudies-literature

Designing a trapping strategy to aid Giant African Snail (Lissachatina fulica) eradication programs.

Project description:In pest eradication programs, traps can directly reduce pest populations; however, their application to gastropod programs remains relatively unexplored. The South Florida Giant African Snail, Liassachatina fulica (Pulmonata: Achatinidae), eradication program allowed a realistic evaluation of their utility. Field studies were conducted to determine the best bait, barrier and trap for use during the eradication program. Immature and adult snails were attracted to banana fruit and a commercially produced bait but only the commercially produced bait did not attract non-target and pest mammals. Four commercially produced traps and 4 barriers were field evaluated for snail retention efficacy. Snails escaped all traps and trap/barrier combinations but the rate of escape ranged from 10-100% after 24 hrs. Laboratory studies confirmed that snails can survive crossing a 5 cm barrier of copper tape, salt, insect stickem or antifouling paint. In the laboratory study snails did not cross copper sulfate but they crossed the barrier in the field. Adding salt to traps as a means to retain snails reduced the number of snails trapped. Laboratory studies confirmed that dry salt decreased the number of snails entering traps and snails did not enter traps when the salt was dissolved in water. Two trap types and the commercial bait were selected for a large-scale program test. For three months, trapping along with hand collection and pesticide application were conducted on 114 properties in five locations. Traps caught snails when surveys and regular pesticide applications on the same properties did not detect them. On 21 occasions snails were only found in traps, and both immature and adult snails were caught. This study showed that traps could be effectively deployed in an eradication program and they could capture snails that may have escaped other control measures.

| S-EPMC6128580 | biostudies-literature

otter diet

Project description:Raw reads obtained from environmental samples of otter (excrements) that represent what the animal has eaten.

| PRJEB38720 | ENA

Phylogeography of the smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata): distinct evolutionary lineages and hybridization with the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus).

Project description:We investigated the phylogeography of the smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) to determine its spatial genetic structure for aiding an adaptive conservation management of the species. Fifty-eight modern and 11 archival (dated 1882-1970) otters sampled from Iraq to Malaysian Borneo were genotyped (mtDNA Cytochrome-b, 10 microsatellite DNA loci). Moreover, 16 Aonyx cinereus (Asian small-clawed otter) and seven Lutra lutra (Eurasian otter) were sequenced to increase information available for phylogenetic reconstructions. As reported in previous studies, we found that L. perspicillata, A. cinereus and A. capensis (African clawless otter) grouped in a clade sister to the genus Lutra, with L. perspicillata and A. cinereus being reciprocally monophyletic. Within L. perspicillata, we uncovered three Evolutionarily Significant Units and proved that L. p. maxwelli is not only endemic to Iraq but also the most recent subspecies. We suggest a revision of the distribution range limits of easternmost L. perspicillata subspecies. We show that smooth-coated otters in Singapore are L. perspicillata x A. cinereus hybrids with A. cinereus mtDNA, the first reported case of hybridization in the wild among otters. This result also provides evidence supporting the inclusion of L. perspicillata and A. cinereus in the genus Amblonyx, thus avoiding the paraphyly of the genus Aonyx.

| S-EPMC5269716 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data