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Maternal Oxytocin Is Linked to Close Mother-Infant Proximity in Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Robinson, Kelly J.; Twiss, Sean D.; Hazon, Neil; Pomeroy, Patrick P.

Maternal Oxytocin Is Linked to Close Mother-Infant Proximity in Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus) Thumbnail


Authors

Kelly J. Robinson

Neil Hazon

Patrick P. Pomeroy



Abstract

Maternal behaviour is a crucial component of reproduction in all mammals; however the quality of care that mothers give to infants can vary greatly. It is vital to document variation in maternal behaviour caused by the physiological processes controlling its expression. This underlying physiology should be conserved throughout reproductive events and should be replicated across all individuals of a species; therefore, any correlates to maternal care quality may be present across many individuals or contexts. Oxytocin modulates the initiation and expression of maternal behaviour in mammals; therefore we tested whether maternal plasma oxytocin concentrations correlated to key maternal behaviours in wild grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). Plasma oxytocin concentrations in non-breeding individuals (4.3 ±0.5 pg/ml) were significantly lower than those in mothers with dependent pups in both early (8.2 ±0.8 pg/ml) and late (6.9 ±0.7 pg/ml) lactation. Maternal plasma oxytocin concentrations were not correlated to the amount of nursing prior to sampling, or a mother’s nursing intensity throughout the dependant period. Mothers with high plasma oxytocin concentrations stayed closer to their pups, reducing the likelihood of mother-pup separation during lactation which is credited with causing starvation, the largest cause of pup mortality in grey seals. This is the first study to link endogenous oxytocin concentrations in wild mammalian mothers with any type of maternal behaviour. Oxytocin’s structure and function is widely conserved across mammalian mothers, including humans. Defining the impact the oxytocin system has on maternal behaviour highlights relationships that may occur across many individuals or species, and such behaviours heavily influence infant development and an individual’s lifetime reproductive success.

Citation

Robinson, K. J., Twiss, S. D., Hazon, N., & Pomeroy, P. P. (2015). Maternal Oxytocin Is Linked to Close Mother-Infant Proximity in Grey Seals (Halichoerus grypus). PLoS ONE, 10(12), Article e0144577. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144577

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 22, 2015
Online Publication Date Dec 23, 2015
Publication Date Dec 23, 2015
Deposit Date Jan 5, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Issue 12
Article Number e0144577
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0144577

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Copyright: © 2015 Robinson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.





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