title: Motherless quail mothers display impaired maternal behavior and produce more fearful and less socially motivated offspring.
abstract: Early maternal deprivation impairs the behavioral development of young individuals. Recently, strong differences between mothered and maternally deprived chicks have been reported concerning their emotionality, sociality, and spatial skills. Here we investigated long-term and cross-generational impacts of maternal deprivation by comparing the characteristics of the non-reproductive and the maternal behavior of 22 mothered and 22 non-mothered adult female Japanese quail (Coturnix c. japonica) and by comparing the behavior of their respective fostered chicks. We reveal that non-brooded mothers were more fearful and less competent in spatial tasks and expressed impaired maternal care, characterized by more aggression towards chicks, higher activity rates, and more abnormal pacing during the first days of the care period. Chicks' behavior was clearly affected by maternal care inducing strong differences in their fearfulness and social motivation. Our results show both long-term and cross-generational impacts of early maternal deprivation in precocial birds.
authors.affiliation: UMR CNRS 6552 «Ethologie Animale et Humaine», Université de Rennes I, Bâtiment 25, Campus de Beaulieu 263 Avenue du Général Leclerc CS74205, 35042, Rennes, Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Florent
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pittet
authors.forename: Océane
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Le Bot
authors.forename: Cécilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Houdelier
authors.forename: Marie-Annick
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Richard-Yris
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lumineau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003370:Coturnix; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D009035:Mothers; D012919:Social Behavior; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Japanese quail; fearfulness; maternal behavior; maternal deprivation; maternal effects; precocial bird; sociality; spatial skills