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Allo-suckling occurrence and its effect on lactation and nursing duration in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in Orkney, Scotland

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Date
17/08/2021
Author
Arso Civil, Monica
Hague, Emily
Langley, Izzy
Scott-Hayward, Lindesay
Keywords
Allo-suckling
Lactation duration
Nursing period
Phocids
Harbour seal
Non-filial
QH301 Biology
DAS
Scottish Government
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Abstract
Fostering and allo-suckling are widespread among pinnipeds, and several hypotheses have been formulated to explain their occurrence. Here, we describe the occurrence of allo-suckling in harbour seals from photo-identification data of females and pups in Orkney (Scotland) during the pupping seasons between 2016 and 2019. We used a generalised linear model framework to investigate the effect of allo-suckling on the duration of lactation (females) and of nursing period (pups). A generalised additive model framework was used to explore how the probability of allo-suckling varied throughout the pupping season, and with changes in mother-pup separation time. Allo-suckling was observed in 31 females, at higher rates (18–37% of lactating females and 18–47% of the pups every year) than those observed in other phocid populations, with 13 females allo-suckling in multiple years. The duration of the pups’ nursing period was not affected by allo-suckling occurrence. However, females in mother-pup pairs where both mother and pup allo-suckled had longer lactation duration than when only the pup allo-suckled, or than in pairs where no allo-suckling was observed. The probability of allo-suckling increased during the pupping season and with increased mother-pup separation time. However, the proximate causes and the consequences on future reproductive output and pup survival remain unknown.
Citation
Arso Civil , M , Hague , E , Langley , I & Scott-Hayward , L 2021 , ' Allo-suckling occurrence and its effect on lactation and nursing duration in harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) in Orkney, Scotland ' , Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology , vol. 75 , 121 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-03051-y
Publication
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-03051-y
ISSN
0340-5443
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Description
This study was funded by Scottish Government (grant number MMSS/002/15).
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/23793

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