School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7005, Australia.
Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, 223 62, Lund, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 14;7(1):3502. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03531-0.
The evolution of family living is underpinned by conflict and cooperation between family members. While family groups can be maintained by reducing conflict between parents and offspring, interactions between siblings may play an equally important role. Here, we compared the level of aggressive interactions between siblings to that between parents and their offspring in the family living skink Liopholis whitii. Aggressive interactions occurred much more frequently between siblings and between fathers and offspring than between mothers and their offspring. These results suggest that ecological and social conditions that reduce conflict between siblings and between males and offspring will be fundamental in the evolutionary maintenance and diversification of family living in these lizards.
家庭生活的演变是由家庭成员之间的冲突和合作所支撑的。虽然通过减少父母和后代之间的冲突可以维持家庭群体，但兄弟姐妹之间的相互作用可能同样重要。在这里，我们比较了生活在有亲缘关系的蜥蜴 Liopholis whitii 中兄弟姐妹之间、父母与其后代之间的攻击性行为的水平。兄弟姐妹之间以及父亲与其后代之间的攻击性行为比母亲与其后代之间的攻击性行为更为频繁。这些结果表明，减少兄弟姐妹之间以及雄性与其后代之间冲突的生态和社会条件将是这些蜥蜴中亲缘关系生活进化维持和多样化的基础。
