title: Cooperation, control, and concession in meerkat groups.
abstract: "Limited control" models of reproductive skew in cooperative societies suggest that the frequency of breeding by subordinates is determined by the outcome of power struggles with dominants. In contrast, "optimal skew" models suggest that dominants have full control of subordinate reproduction and allow subordinates to breed only when this serves to retain subordinates' assistance with rearing dominants' own litters. The results of our 7-year field study of cooperative meerkats, Suricata suricatta, support the predictions of limited control models and provide no indication that dominant females grant reproductive concessions to subordinates to retain their assistance with future breeding attempts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. thcb@hermes.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Clutton-Brock
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Brotherton
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: O'Riain
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaynor
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kansky
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manser
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sharpe
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: McIlrath
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Small
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monfort
mesh_terms: D000353:Africa, Southern; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001835:Body Weight; D002335:Carnivora / Q000502:physiology*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004291:Dominance-Subordination; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D011891:Rain; D012098:Reproduction; D012621:Seasons; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal