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Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects

In highly biodiverse systems, such as coral reefs, prey species are faced with predatory threats from numerous species. Recognition of predators can be innate, or learned, and can help increase the chance of survival. Research suggests that parental exposure to increased predatory threats can affect...

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Autores principales: Atherton, Jennifer A., McCormick, Mark I.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306219/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32596050
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9340
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author Atherton, Jennifer A.
McCormick, Mark I.
author_facet Atherton, Jennifer A.
McCormick, Mark I.
author_sort Atherton, Jennifer A.
collection PubMed
description In highly biodiverse systems, such as coral reefs, prey species are faced with predatory threats from numerous species. Recognition of predators can be innate, or learned, and can help increase the chance of survival. Research suggests that parental exposure to increased predatory threats can affect the development, behaviour, and ultimately, success of their offspring. Breeding pairs of damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) were subjected to one of three olfactory and visual treatments (predator, herbivore, or control), and their developing embryos were subsequently exposed to five different chemosensory cues. Offspring of parents assigned to the predator treatment exhibited a mean increase in heart rate two times greater than that of offspring from parents in herbivore or control treatments. This increased reaction to a parentally known predator odour suggests that predator-treated parents passed down relevant threat information to their offspring, via parental effects. This is the first time transgenerational recognition of a specific predator has been confirmed in any species. This phenomenon could influence predator-induced mortality rates and enable populations to adaptively respond to fluctuations in predator composition and environmental changes.
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spelling pubmed-73062192020-06-25 Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects Atherton, Jennifer A. McCormick, Mark I. PeerJ Animal Behavior In highly biodiverse systems, such as coral reefs, prey species are faced with predatory threats from numerous species. Recognition of predators can be innate, or learned, and can help increase the chance of survival. Research suggests that parental exposure to increased predatory threats can affect the development, behaviour, and ultimately, success of their offspring. Breeding pairs of damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) were subjected to one of three olfactory and visual treatments (predator, herbivore, or control), and their developing embryos were subsequently exposed to five different chemosensory cues. Offspring of parents assigned to the predator treatment exhibited a mean increase in heart rate two times greater than that of offspring from parents in herbivore or control treatments. This increased reaction to a parentally known predator odour suggests that predator-treated parents passed down relevant threat information to their offspring, via parental effects. This is the first time transgenerational recognition of a specific predator has been confirmed in any species. This phenomenon could influence predator-induced mortality rates and enable populations to adaptively respond to fluctuations in predator composition and environmental changes. PeerJ Inc. 2020-06-18 /pmc/articles/PMC7306219/ /pubmed/32596050 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9340 Text en ©2020 Atherton and McCormick https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Animal Behavior
Atherton, Jennifer A.
McCormick, Mark I.
Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
title Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
title_full Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
title_fullStr Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
title_full_unstemmed Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
title_short Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
title_sort parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
topic Animal Behavior
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306219/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32596050
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9340
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