Hurst, Jane 
ORCID: 0000-0002-3728-9624 and Stockley, Paula
(2020)
Increased sperm production linked to competition in the maternal social environment
Royal Society Open Science, 7 (12).
201171-.
ISSN 2054-5703, 2054-5703
Abstract
Maternal or early life effects may prepare offspring for similar social conditions to those experienced by their mothers. For males, the ability to achieve mating and fertilization success is a key social challenge. Competitive conditions may therefore favour increased body size or ejaculate production in male offspring. We tested this experimentally by comparing reproductive traits of adult male bank voles (Myodes glareolus), whose mothers had experienced contrasting encounter regimes with female conspecifics while breeding. We found that daily sperm production rates and epididymis mass were significantly higher when dams had experienced more frequent encounters with female conspecifics. This response to maternal and early life experience was specific to sperm production and storage, with no evidence for effects on male body mass or the size of testes and accessory reproductive glands. Our findings reveal a potentially adaptive effect of maternal and early life experience on the development of sperm production, which is worthy of wider investigation.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | early life effects, reproductive development, female competition, maternal effects, sperm competition |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Dec 2020 12:22 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Mar 2026 09:25 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rsos.201171 |
| Open Access URL: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rso... |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3110550 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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