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Sibling relatedness and social play in juvenile ground squirrels

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Abstract

We described the relationship between relatedness as full or maternal half siblings and expression of social play and other social behaviors in juvenile Belding’s ground squirrel (Urocitellus beldingi) litters and evaluated the possible role of play in establishing social bonds between juvenile females. We used microsatellite analysis to determine relatedness. Juvenile females did not interact preferentially with full over half siblings, suggesting that they may form bonds equally with full and half sisters. The probability that females will have a surviving full sister beyond the juvenile period may be low in U. beldingi, and establishing a cooperative relationship with a half sister may sometimes be the best available option in adulthood. As the proportion of females within litters increased, rates of play decreased, suggesting that low social play may be adequate for social bonding among females. Among juvenile male U. beldingi, play bouts lasted longer between full than half brothers; however, juvenile males did not interact preferentially with full brothers in play or other social interactions. Body mass differences were smaller between full than half brothers, and in both full and half brother pairings, play bouts lasted longest when body mass differences were small. Because male U. beldingi do not ordinarily interact with littermate siblings after emigrating from the natal area, it is unlikely that play behavior functions to establish long-term social bonds between full brothers. Rather, young males may favor play interactions with phenotypically similar partners who can provide optimal challenges in interactions that promote motor development.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jon Woo for assistance with genotyping microsatellites and Allison Luengen for assistance with statistical analyses. Alan Chan-Alvarado, Roxxana Beltran Valencia, Chelsea Harmon, Adelisa Legaspi, and Jonie Nguyen provided excellent assistance with field work. James Hare, Pierre-Olivier Montiglio, and an anonymous reviewer provided insightful comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by grants from the Faculty Development Fund at the University of San Francisco to SN and JAD.

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This work was conducted under permits from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Forest Service and complies with the laws and standards of the USA.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA, 94117, USA

    Scott Nunes, Jessica N. Weidenbach, Marissa R. Lafler & Jennifer A. Dever

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  1. Scott Nunes
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  2. Jessica N. Weidenbach
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Correspondence to Scott Nunes.

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Communicated by A. I. Schulte-Hostedde

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Nunes, S., Weidenbach, J.N., Lafler, M.R. et al. Sibling relatedness and social play in juvenile ground squirrels. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 357–369 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1848-y

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