Maternal Care Behavior Research Articles

High-protein nutrition during pregnancy increases neuroinflammation and homocysteine levels and impairs behavior in male adolescent rats offspring

AimsThroughout gestation, proteins in the diet are a source of essential amino acids that are crucial for proper healthy fetal growth and development. The present study was proposed to investigate the effect of high-protein diet consumption throughout pregnancy on redox homeostasis, neuroinflammatory status and amino acid levels, including homocysteine, in the male adolescent rats offspring's cerebral cortex. We also performed a battery of behavioral tests to evaluate maternal care, olfactory preference, exploratory capacity, habituation, memory, anxiety- and depression-like behavior motor activity in the offspring. Main methodsAfter pregnancy confirmation, the pregnant rats were randomly divided into two groups, according to the diet: group 1, (control) standard diet containing 20 % protein, and group 2, the high-protein diet containing 50 % protein. Throughout the gestational period, the pregnant rats received experimental diets. Key findingsResults showed an increase in homocysteine levels and neuroinflammatory mediators in the offspring's cerebral cortex from pregnant rats supplemented with a high-protein diet throughout pregnancy. Besides decreasing histidine levels in offspring's serum. The results also revealed an impairment in memory and motricity and an increase in anxiety-like behavior in the offspring supplemented with a high-protein diet throughout pregnancy. Our findings showed a significant effect of high-protein diet consumption throughout pregnancy on offspring's neurobiochemistry, which can negatively impact behavioral performance. SignificanceOur results reinforce the importance of consuming a balanced diet during the gestational period, especially macronutrients such as proteins since the fetus is sensitive to the mother's diet during pregnancy which may impact the development of the offspring.

Astaxanthin ameliorates the impairment consequence of prenatal bacterial lipopolysaccharide exposure in adult male offspring NMRI mice

In this study, the potential effects of astaxanthin (AST) were investigated on preventing the prenatal LPS-induced injures in mothers and adult male offspring of NMRI mice.Pregnant mice were randomly divided into four groups: 1. Saline + vehicle; 2. Saline + AST: received astaxanthin (4 mg/kg for 3 days, ip) on 11–13 gestation days; 3. LPS + vehicle (LPS-treated group): injected with LPS (20 µg/kg, sc) on gestation day 11; 4. LPS + AST: administrated LPS and astaxanthin on gestation days 11 and 11–13, respectively. In each group, maternal care behaviors and TNF-α serum levels were examined until weaning of male offspring at 23 days. At 60 days old, male pups underwent analysis of body weight and length, serum gonadotropins and testosterone hormone levels, sperm quality, gonadal and brain tissues morphologies, and the expression of SOX9 and GnRH genes by real-time PCR.Serum TNF-α level increased significantly in mothers treated with LPS, while AST reduced it. In adult male offspring, serum hormone levels, sperm quality, and the number of spermatocytes and Leydig cells in the testes improved when AST was administrated. According to histological studies of the brain, neurons in the LPS-treated group were smaller and less active, whereas neurons in the LPS + AST group were larger, more numerous, and more active. LPS significantly reduced GnRH expression, while AST induction improved its expression.AST administration during pregnancy prevented the adverse effects of prenatal exposure to LPS, presumably through its genomic and non-genomic effects, in adult male offspring.

Swimming exercise strain-dependently affects maternal care and depression-related behaviors through gestational corticosterone and brain serotonin in postpartum dams

Pregnancy is a very complex and highly stressful time in which women become more physically and emotionally vulnerable. Therefore, mothers are more likely to face decreased self-esteem and increased postpartum depression. Despite the high prevalence of postpartum depression, more than 50 % of mothers are undiagnosed or untreated, showing an urgent need to explore an effective preventive strategy. A healthy lifestyle and regular physical activity have been suggested to be associated with an increased quality of life in pregnant and postpartum women. The purpose of this study was to determine whether swimming exercise before and during pregnancy can affect maternal care and postpartum depression-related behaviors in dams. To this end, female NMRI and C57BL/6 J mice were subjected to swimming exercise before conception and throughout pregnancy. On postpartum days 1–2, maternal behavior including nest building, active nursing, and licking/grooming were monitored. A battery of behavioral tests was also used to measure depression-related symptoms including anhedonia- and anxiety-like behavior, social behavior, and behavioral despair. To identify the underlying mechanisms, corticosterone and inflammatory cytokines during late pregnancy, and corticosterone and brain serotonin during the postpartum period were measured in dams. The findings indicated that swimming exercise increased gestational corticosterone, decreased maternal care and brain serotonin, and increased all depression-related behaviors in postpartum C57BL/6 J dams, while only increased licking/grooming and social behavior, and reduced anhedonia-like behavior in postpartum NMRI dams. Taken together, this study suggests that swimming exercise before and during pregnancy could alter maternal care and postpartum depression-like behavior in a strain-dependent manner.

Exposure to pyriproxyfen (juvenile hormone agonist) does not alter maternal care and reproduction in the European earwig.

Sublethal exposure to pesticides can alter the survival and reproduction of a wide range of non-target organisms. However, it remains unclear whether this exposure can alter behaviours that are often essential for long-term population dynamics and maintenance, such as parental care. In this study, we tested the effect of pyriproxyfen exposure (an insect growth regulator) on maternal care in the European earwig, an insect that is both used in pest control in pip-fruit orchards and considered a pest in stone fruit orchards. We exposed 424 females at doses either 10 times lower, equivalent or 10 times higher than normal application rates in French orchards. As maternal care can change over the weeks of family life, we exposed the earwig mothers at five different days before and after egg hatching. We then measured the expression of ten forms of maternal care towards eggs and juveniles, six non-caring behaviours, eggs and juvenile development, metabolic reserves in mothers at egg hatching and females' production of a terminal clutch. First, our results revealed that the three tested doses of pyriproxyfen were non-lethal and confirmed that maternal care decreased throughout both pre- and post-hatching family life. However, we did not detect any effect of pyriproxyfen on maternal care and non-care behaviours, eggs and juvenile development, quantities of lipids, proteins and glycogen in mothers at egg hatching, and on the production of a future clutch. Overall, these findings suggest that the maximal doses of pyriproxyfen authorized in French orchards is likely to have limited effects on the short- and long-term maintenance of populations of the European earwig and raises fundamental questions about the nature of the link between juvenile hormone and parental care in insects.

Impact of COVID-19 on maternal health and child care behavior: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study of vulnerable communities in Boa Vista, Brazil

Impact of COVID-19 on maternal health and child care behavior: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study of vulnerable communities in Boa Vista, Brazil

Gestational immune activation disrupts hypothalamic neurocircuits of maternal care behavior

Immune activation is one of the most common complications during pregnancy, predominantly evoked by viral infections. Nevertheless, how immune activation affects mother–offspring relationships postpartum remains unknown. Here, by using the polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (Poly I:C) model of gestational infection we show that viral-like immune activation at mid-gestation persistently changes hypothalamic neurocircuit parameters in mouse dams and, consequently, is adverse to parenting behavior. Poly I:C-exposed dams favor non-pup-directed exploratory behavior at the expense of pup retrieval. These behavioral deficits are underlain by dendrite pruning and lesser immediate early gene activation in Galanin (Gal)+ neurons with dam-specific transcriptional signatures that reside in the medial preoptic area (mPOA). Reduced activation of an exclusively inhibitory contingent of these distal-projecting Gal+ neurons allows for increased feed-forward inhibition onto putative dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in Poly I:C-exposed dams. Notably, destabilized VTA output specifically accompanies post-pup retrieval epochs. We suggest that gestational immunogenic insults bias both threat processing and reward perception, manifesting as disfavored infant caregiving.

Impact of COVID-19 on maternal health and child care behavior: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study of vulnerable communities in Boa Vista, Brazil

BackgroundCOVID-19 related distress has been shown to have negative associations with family well-being. ObjectivesTo determine the immediate impact of acute COVID-19 infection on maternal well-being and parenting practices among Brazilian families. Participants and settingWe studied 2′579 mothers (29′913 observations) of young children from vulnerable neighborhoods in Boa Vista, Brazil over 12 months. MethodsWe monitored family health and caregiving behavior including the incidence of COVID-19 infections in the surveyed households through bi-weekly phone interviews over 50 weeks, from June 2020 to May 2021. Primary outcomes were home-based child stimulation, positive parenting behavior, and parenting stress. We used fixed effects panel regressions to estimate the impact of household COVID-19 infections on parenting outcomes. ResultsOver the study period, 441 participants (17.1%; 831 (3.0%) observations) reported at least 1 positive COVID-19 infection in their household. Household COVID-19 infections significantly reduced home-based stimulation by 0.10 SDs (95%CI: −0.18, −0.01), positive parenting behaviors by 0.14 SDs (−0.21, −0.01), and increased parenting stress by 0.07 SDs (0.02, 0.12). The impact on home-based stimulation was most pronounced when the mother herself had a COVID-19 infection (−0.16; −0.29, −0.04). Parenting stress responded most strongly to mother or child COVID-19 infections. Effects were relatively short-lived, only children's infections' on parental stress was still detectable 2 weeks after initial infection. ConclusionOur findings suggest that COVID-19 infections cause substantial disruptions in children's home environments - additional short-term support for families with acute infections could attenuate the negative impact on children's home environment during the pandemic.

The ring-legged earwig Euborellia annulipes as a new model for oogenesis and development studies in insects.

Insects are the dominant group of animals on Earth. Despite this abundance, most of our knowledge about many aspects of their biology and development come from a unique model, the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Nevertheless, in the last years, the advances in molecular tools and imaging techniques have allowed the emergence of new insect models, adding valuable information to decipher the morphogenetic bases behind the formation and evolution of the vast diversity of shapes, sizes, and patterns that characterize them. Earwigs belong to Dermaptera which is a small order clustered in the Polyneopteran group. They are hemimetabolous insects with a flattened body, characteristic abdominal pincers, and maternal care behavior. This last feature and their role in agroecosystems have been studied in cosmopolitan species such as Forficula auricularia and Euborellia annulipes; however, their reproduction and embryonic development have been poorly addressed in laboratory conditions. In response, here we describe the ring-legged earwig Euborellia annulipes embryogenesis and life cycle from nymphal to adult stages, its reproduction, and essential morphological and behavioral characters. Additionally, using confocal and transmission electron microscopy we analyzed in detail the morphogenesis of its peculiar meroistic polytrophic ovary. Our aim is to provide an emerging model system to perform comparative studies on insect oogenesis, development, and morphological evolution.

Sawflies out of Gondwana: phylogenetics and biogeography of Argidae (Hymenoptera)

ABSTRACTWe present the first phylogenetic hypothesis for the cosmopolitan family Argidae based on both molecular and morphological data. Furthermore, we present a biogeographic scenario based on a dated phylogeny and interpret the evolutionary history of the family. Information from sequences of eight genes is analysed to reconstruct the phylogeny of the Argidae based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Total evidence Bayesian analyses are also conducted, combining the molecular dataset with data from adult and larval morphology. For the historical biogeographic reconstruction, divergence times are estimated using node dating with uncorrelated relaxed‐clock analysis, and ancestral biogeographical distributions are estimated applying a Dispersal Extinction Cladogenesis model and a Bayesian binary model. Argidae s.s. is retrieved as monophyletic in all analyses and the clade Zenargidae + (Argidae + Pergidae) is better supported when combining molecular and morphological characters, and when excluding the saturated third codon position in the molecular analysis. Within Argidae, two large clades corresponding to the subfamilies Arginae and Sterictiphorinae sensu Benson are retrieved as monophyletic. The ancestral distribution of Arginae and Sterictiphorinae is estimated to be the Australian and Neotropical regions. Divergence of Argidae‐Pergidae and Arginae‐Sterictiphorinae is estimated to occur in the middle‐upper Jurassic before or during the east‐west Gondwana breakup. Diversification of Argidae may be associated with the radiation of angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous, especially for the Neotropical Sterictiphorinae after the separation of South America and Africa. Arginae were probably introduced to the northern hemisphere by dispersal to Africa and/or India and subsequent continental collision with Eurasia in the Cenozoic. The occurrence of Sterictiphorinae in the northern hemisphere is more difficult to explain. Maternal care and brood guarding behaviour evolved independently in Argidae and Pergidae, with a single origin in a subclade (Dielocerini) of Sterictiphorinae.

Comparison of Maternal Self-efficacy and Infant Care Behavior Between Mothers with and Without Depression: A Case-Control Study

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) affects various dimensions of women's lives. The present study aimed to compare infant care behavior and maternal self-efficacy between depressed and non-depressed mothers. Objectives: This case-control study was conducted among 80 (n = 40 per group) postpartum women. Methods: A socio-demographic characteristics form, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Maternal Self-efficacy Questionnaire (MSQ), and Infant Care Behavior questionnaire were used for data collection. Independent t-test was run for data analysis. The mean score of maternal self-efficacy in the depressed group was 29.3 (3.6), and it was 33.0 (3.3) in the non-depressed group, which was significantly higher in the non-depressed group compared to the depressed group based on independent t-test results (adjusted mean difference: -3.7; 95% Confidence Interval: -2.2 to 5.3; P < 0.001). Results: The mean score of infant care behavior was 72.2 (5.2) in the depressed group and 73.0 (9.0) in the non-depressed group, indicating no significant differences between the two groups according to independent t-test (P = 0.627). Conclusions: Depressed women were less self-efficient; thus, given the central role of mothers, some strategies should be adopted to minimize mothers' postpartum physical and mental problems and promote their self-efficacy and infant care behaviors.

Social distancing: High population density increases cub rejection and decreases maternal care in the giant panda

In conservation breeding centers, individuals are often housed in close proximity with an artificially high-population density. For many solitary species, these housing arrangements are in direct contrast to in-situ conditions. High-population density during pregnancy may lead to perceived competition for resources and danger to offspring, increasing stress and disturbance during gestation which has been shown to alter reproductive output, maternal care, and offspring behaviors. We conducted a retrospective analysis of reproductive outcomes for female giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and their infants housed in two different facilities with differing population density during gestation, birth, and postpartum. Our results indicate increased behaviors indicative of stress/anxiety in both mothers and cubs housed in high-density areas: mothers produced female-biased litters, rejected more cubs, and neglected their offspring more often, while infants increased squawking and vocalization rate. We suggest these findings may be explained by either higher levels of keeper activity causing external disturbances and/or the high-density of neighboring conspecifics as a form of social stress. Simultaneously, mothers in high-density areas also showed increased cub production and attentiveness toward their infants compared to mothers in low-density areas. The most plausible interpretation of maternal attentiveness findings is that higher levels of agitation in response to nearby conspecifics and/or keeper activity fostered higher levels of protective maternal behaviors. This, in turn, may have led to increased cub survivorship, or, alternatively, cubs at the high-density facility received more supportive care from keepers. We consider these findings preliminary due to the retrospective approach taken and the lack of replication across additional facilities with varying levels of social density. While experimental research is desirable to confirm these findings, we suggest that conservation breeding centers should prioritize research evaluating the effects of social density that are an inevitable but modifiable aspect of ex situ conservation.

Maternal treatment with P7C3-A20 protects from impaired maternal care after chronic gestational stress

Chronic stress during pregnancy harms both the mother and developing child, and there is an urgent unmet need to understand this process in order to develop protective treatments. Here, we report that chronic gestational stress (CGS) causes aberrant maternal care behavior in the form of increased licking and grooming, decreased nursing, and increased time spent nest building. Treatment of CGS-exposed dams with the NAD+-stabilizing agent P7C3-A20 during pregnancy and postpartum, however, preserved normal maternal care behavior. CGS also caused abnormally low weight gain during gestation and postpartum, which was partially ameliorated by maternal treatment with P7C3-A20. Dams also displayed hyperactive locomotion after CGS, which was not affected by P7C3-A20. Although dams did not display a classic depressive-like phenotype after CGS, some changes in anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors were observed. Our results highlight the need for further characterization of the effects of chronic gestational stress on maternal care behavior and provide clues to possible protective mechanisms.

The possible role of oxytocin in neuropsychiatric disorders

Oxytocin (OT) is a peptide hormone unique to mammals, typically involved in activities characteristic of this vertebrate class, such as labour and lactation. Evidence suggests a role of OT even in most complex activities, including child attachment, maternal care, couple bonding, emotional and social behaviors. Furthermore, it seems to contribute to the modulation of stress responses, learning, and memory processes, as well as to the connection of social signals with cognition, behaviors and reward. For this reason, for years there has been a debate on the possible contribution of the OT system in the pathophysiology of different neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, addiction, and schizophrenia. In this article, we describe the most relevant findings on OT system abnormalities in the aforementioned disorders, with a focus on possible therapeutic implications.

Of mammals and milk: how maternal stress affects nursing offspring

Abstract A large body of research shows that maternal stress during an offspring’s early life can impact its phenotype in both the short and long term. In the Vertebrata, most research has been focused on maternal stress during the prenatal period. However, the postnatal period is particularly important in mammals because maternal milk provides a conduit by which maternal hormones secreted in response to stressors (glucocorticoids, GCs) can reach offspring. Moreover, lactation outlasts gestation in many species. Though GCs were first detected in milk over 40 years ago, few studies have explored how they affect nursing offspring, and no reviews have been written on how maternal stress affects nursing offspring in the natural world. We discuss the evolution of milk and highlight its importance in each of the three mammalian lineages: monotremes (subclass Monotremata), marsupials (infraclass Marsupialia), and eutherians (infraclass Placentalia). Most research on the effects of milk GCs on offspring has been focused on eutherians, but monotremes and marsupials rely on their mothers’ milk for a proportionally longer period of time, and so research on these taxa may yield more insight. We show that GCs are important for milk production, both during an individual nursing bout and over the entire lactation period, and review evidence of GCs moving from maternal blood to milk, and eventually to nursing offspring. We examine evidence from rodents and primates of associations between GC levels in lactating females (either blood or milk) and offspring behaviour and growth rates. We discuss ways that maternal stress may impact these offspring phenotypes outside of milk GCs, such as changes to: (1) milk output, (2) other milk constituents (e.g. macronutrients, growth factors, cytokines), and (3) maternal care behaviour. Critical to understanding the fitness impacts of elevated maternal GC levels during lactation is to place this within the context of the natural environment. Species‐specific traits and natural histories will help us to understand why such maternal stress produces different offspring phenotypes that equip them to cope with and succeed in the environment they are about to enter.

New eodermapteran earwigs (Dermaptera) from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of China

A new genus of eodermapteran earwigs, Aglyptoderma gen. nov., is described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. It comprises two new species—Aglyptoderma elongatum gen. et sp. nov. and Aglyptoderma cylindratum gen. et sp. nov. The genus belongs to the family Semenoviolidae, hitherto known only from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan. However, owing to significant differences in the form of the head, pronotum, tegmina and tarsomeres, the new genus is classified within a separate subfamily, Aglyptodermatinae subfam. nov. The features of the new genus are discussed in the context of existing hypotheses regarding post-Jurassic character-state transitions in the postabdomen of female Dermaptera. In particular, reduction of the cerci and internalization of the ovipositor across Archidermaptera, Eodermaptera, and Neodermaptera may relate to the variety of maternal care behaviours seen among earwigs. Shurong Xiong [2190802066@mail.cnu.edu.cn], Lifang Xiao [xiaolifangjxau@163.com], Dong Ren* [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Sciences and Academy for Multidisciplinary Studies, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing 100048, PR China; Michael S. Engel [msengel@ku.edu], Division of Entomology, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140, Lawrence, Kansas, 66045-4415, USA; Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA.

Effects of Morphine and Maternal Care on Behaviors and Protein Expression of Male Offspring

Genes and environment interact during development to alter gene expression and behavior. Parental morphine exposure before conception has devastating effects on the offspring. In the present study, we evaluated the role of maternal care in the intergenerational effect of maternal morphine exposure. Female rats received morphine or saline for ten days and were drugfree for another ten days. Thereafter, they were allowed to mate with drug-naïve male rats. When pups were born, they were cross-fostered to assess the contribution of maternal care versus morphine effects on the offspring. Adult male offspring were examined for anxiety-like behavior, spatial memory, and obsessive–compulsive-like behavior. To determine the mechanisms underlying the observed behavioral changes, protein levels of acetylated histone H3, BDNF, Trk-B, NMDA subunits, p-CREB, and 5-HT3R were measured in the brain. Our results indicate that maternal caregiving is impaired in morphine-abstinent mothers. Interestingly, maternal care behaviors were also affected in drug-naïve mothers that raised offspring of morphine-exposed mothers. In addition, the offspring of morphine abstinent and non-drug dependent mothers, when raised by morphine abstinent mothers, exhibited more anxiety, obsessive–compulsive behaviors and impaired spatial memory. These altered behaviors were associated with alterations in the levels of the above-mentioned proteins. These data illustrate the intergenerational effects of maternal morphine exposure on offspring behaviors. Moreover, exposure to morphine before gestation not only affects maternal care and offspring behavior, but also has negative consequences on behaviors and protein expression in adoptive mothers of affected offspring.

Neuropeptide Y and maternal behavior in the female native Thai chicken

Maternal care behaviors in birds include incubation and rearing behaviors. During incubating period, the hens stop laying and eating less due to food restriction as a natural fasting when compared with the rearing hens, resulting in low production of eggs and chicks. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator, is very well known to be involved in food intake regulation in birds and mammals. The objective of this study is to elucidate the association between NPY and maternal behaviors in the female native Thai chicken. The distributions of NPY-immunoreactive (-ir) neurons and fibers in the brain of the incubating (INC), nest-deprived (ND), and replaced-egg-with-chicks (REC) hens at day 6 were determined utilizing immunohistochemistry technique. The results revealed that the distributions of NPY-ir neurons and fibers were observed within the septalis lateralis, nucleus rotundus, and nucleus dorsolateralis anterior thalami, with predominantly located within the the nucleus paraventricularis magnocellularis (PVN). NPY-ir fibers were located throughout the brain and the densest NPY-ir fibers were distributed in a discrete region lying close to the ventriculus tertius (third ventricle) through the hypothalamus. Changes in the number of NPY-ir neurons within the PVN of the INC, ND, and REC hens were compared at different time points (at days 6 and 14). Interestingly, the number of NPY-ir neurons within the PVN was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the INC hens when compared with those of the ND and REC hens at day 14 but not day 6. In addition, the number of NPY-ir neurons within the PVN of the INC hens was significantly increased (P < 0.05) from day 6 to day 14 but not the ND and REC hens. These results indicated, for the first time, the asscociation between NPY and maternal behaviors in the femle native Thai chicken. Change in the number of NPY-ir neurons within the PVN during the transition from incubating to rearing behavior suggested the possible role of NPY in the regulation of the maternal behaviors in this equatorial species. In addition, the native Thai chicken might be an excellent animal model for the study of this phenomenon.

A nutty idea: Exploring a novel method using a hazelnut cocoa spread to temporarily increase maternal care behavior within a rat litter.

Maternal care plays a crucial role for infant development. In humans, skin-to-skin care is often used for preterm infants to reduce acute stress and improve long-term developmental outcome. Here we propose a new translational approach to study the effects of acute increases in maternal care on offspring development in rodents. First, pilot studies determined that dams spent more time licking pups covered in hazelnut cocoa spread (Nutella® )) than any other studied substance. For the main experiment, Sprague-Dawley rats were bred in-house, and Nutella® was applied four times a day to treatment pups (2 males/females per litter) of seven litters from PN2 to 5. Control pups (2 males/females per litter) were handled similarly without applying any substance. Maternal licking and grooming behavior was observed for 30min following each Nutella® application. Nutella® -covered pups received significantly more licking and grooming compared to control pups within each litter. There was no difference in body weight or basal serum corticosterone levels between Nutella® -covered and control pups on PN5, suggesting that the Nutella® application and subsequent increased maternal licking was not stressful for the pups. Future studies will investigate whether this increase in maternal care can protect pups from stress- or pain-induced rises in corticosterone.

Assessing the role of host-symbiont interactions in maternal care behaviour

A recommendation of: Sophie Van Meyel, Séverine Devers, Simon Dupont, Franck Dedeine and Joël Meunier Alteration of gut microbiota with a broad-spectrum antibiotic does not impair maternal care in the European earwig https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.08.331363

Maternal care and secretive behaviour of neonates in the highly social lizard Liolaemus leopardinus (Squamata: Liolaemidae) from the central Chilean Andes may relate to size-specific bird predation

Abstract Predation prompts the evolution of antipredator traits, molds behaviour, and can lead to the evolution of parental care. We investigated parental care and predator-avoidance behaviour of neonates in the social lizard Liolaemus leopardinus. We used clay models to quantify bird predation pressure on L. leopardinus. Predation was significantly greater on small models and models in open habitat. Late-term pregnant females left their social groups on rock outcrops and gave birth in solitary underneath flat rocks in vegetated microhabitat. Mothers stayed with their litters inside natal chambers for at least 24 h and when they left, sealed the neonates inside. Mothers remained close to their natal chamber and neonates when neonates emerged. Neonates and young yearlings moved significantly less and occupied vegetated microhabitat significantly more than older age classes. We suggest that the maternal behaviour and secretive behaviour of neonates may be related to the heavy avian predation on neonates.