Female squirrels improve their offspring's odds of survival by ramping up how fast their offspring grow when the woods get crowded.
In a study led by Michigan State University and the University of Guelph (Canada), researchers showed for the first time how females' use social cues to correctly prepare their offspring for life outside the nest. The results, published in the current issue of Science, confirm that red squirrel mothers boosted stress hormone production during pregnancy, which increased the size and the chances of survival of their pups.
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"Natural selection favors faster-growing offspring, and female red squirrels react accordingly to increase their pups' chances of survival," said Ben Dantzer, formerly with MSU's zoology department and now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). "Surprisingly, squirrels could produce these faster growing offspring even though they didn't have access to additional food resources."
Proving that food availability isn't always the universal variable affecting population dynamics took a true team effort. It was equal parts field physiology, experimental ecology and longitudinal studies of natural selection that led to these findings, he added.
![Maternal Diabetes Has an Adverse Effect on the Offspring]( "Maternal Diabetes Has an Adverse Effect on the Offspring")
Poorly controlled maternal diabetes has an adverse effect on methylation of the maternal imprinting gene Peg3 , contributing to impaired development in offspring, shows researchers.
The team based much of its study on the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a 22-year-long study on North American red squirrels living in the Yukon led by researchers from the University of Alberta (Canada), Guelph and McGill University (Canada). Out in the field, researchers used recordings of territorial vocalizations, or rattles, to create the illusion of a big population of squirrels.
Source: Eurekalert
Maternal Diabetes Has an Adverse Effect on the Offspring
Poorly controlled maternal diabetes has an adverse effect on methylation of the maternal imprinting gene Peg3 , contributing to impaired development in offspring, shows researchers.
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The team based much of its study on the Kluane Red Squirrel Project, a 22-year-long study on North American red squirrels living in the Yukon led by researchers from the University of Alberta (Canada), Guelph and McGill University (Canada). Out in the field, researchers used recordings of territorial vocalizations, or rattles, to create the illusion of a big population of squirrels.
Source: Eurekalert
Mom's Stress Impacts Offsprings' Brains
If a mother is exposed to stress during pregnancy, her placenta can transmit the damaging effects of stress to her fetus.
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 Vitamin D Levels of Mother During Pregnancy Linked to Allergy Risk in OffspringA child's risk of developing allergies could depend on the vitamin D levels of the mother during her pregnancy, according to a new study. | Advertisement
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