How many cubs can a mum nurse? Maternal age and size influence litter size in polar bears

Life-history theory predicts that females' age and size affect the level of maternal investment in current reproduction, balanced against the future reproductive effort, maintenance and survival. Using long-term (30 years) individual data on 193 female polar bears ( Ursus maritimus), we assesse...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biology letters (2005) 2019-05, Vol.15 (5), p.20190070-20190070
Main Authors: Folio, Dorinda Marie, Aars, Jon, Gimenez, Olivier, Derocher, Andrew E, Wiig, Øystein, Cubaynes, Sarah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biodiversity and Ecology
Body Size
Environmental Sciences
Evolutionary Biology
Female
Litter Size
Maternal Age
Pregnancy
Reproduction
Ursidae
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
cited_by cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03
cites cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03
container_end_page 20190070
container_issue 5
container_start_page 20190070
container_title Biology letters (2005)
container_volume 15
creator Folio, Dorinda Marie
Aars, Jon
Gimenez, Olivier
Derocher, Andrew E
Wiig, Øystein
Cubaynes, Sarah
description Life-history theory predicts that females' age and size affect the level of maternal investment in current reproduction, balanced against the future reproductive effort, maintenance and survival. Using long-term (30 years) individual data on 193 female polar bears ( Ursus maritimus), we assessed age- and size-specific variation on litter size. Litter size varied with maternal age, younger females had higher chances of losing a cub during their first months of life. Results suggest an improvement in reproductive abilities early in life due to experience with subsequent reproductive senescence. Litter size increased with maternal size, indicating that size may reflect individual quality. We also found an optimum in the probability of having twins, suggesting stabilizing selection on female body size. Heterogeneity was observed among the largest females, suggesting that large size comes at a cost.
doi_str_mv 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0070
format article
fullrecord <record><control><sourceid>proquest_pubme</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_pubmedcentral_primary_oai_pubmedcentral_nih_gov_6548740</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>2218302171</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNpdkU1P3DAQhq0KVD7aa4_Ix3LYZezEdnxptULAVlrEhUrtyZrYDgQ5ztZOqODXs9HCquU0o_Ez78h6CPnCYM5AV2cp12HOgek5gIIP5JCpspxpoX7t7XrJDshRzg8AhVIgPpKDgkGhFdeH5Pey_0s7jE_UjnWmFiNF2o0djWPK_ju9xsGniIHinacYHc3ts6dtbMLoo_U0tMMGeJvSdR8w0dpjyp_IfoMh-8-v9Zj8vLy4PV_OVjdXP84Xq5kVUgyzhsvSQo3aIYCzqhKikugYcrBOOKGZVK6UqlFOV-gKrrmXzlaWWa1sDcUx-bbNXY915531cUgYzDq1HaYn02Nr_n-J7b256x-NFGWlyingdBtw_25tuViZaQZ8c7WS4pFt2K-vx1L_Z_R5MF2brQ8Bo-_HbDhnVQGcqQmdb1Gb-pyTb3bZDMzkzkzuzOTOTO42Cyf_fmSHv8kqXgDsfJXt</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Open Access Repository</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>2218302171</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>How many cubs can a mum nurse? Maternal age and size influence litter size in polar bears</title><source>PubMed Central</source><source>Royal Society Publishing Jisc Collections Royal Society Journals Read &amp; Publish Transitional Agreement 2025 (reading list)</source><creator>Folio, Dorinda Marie ; Aars, Jon ; Gimenez, Olivier ; Derocher, Andrew E ; Wiig, Øystein ; Cubaynes, Sarah</creator><creatorcontrib>Folio, Dorinda Marie ; Aars, Jon ; Gimenez, Olivier ; Derocher, Andrew E ; Wiig, Øystein ; Cubaynes, Sarah</creatorcontrib><description>Life-history theory predicts that females' age and size affect the level of maternal investment in current reproduction, balanced against the future reproductive effort, maintenance and survival. Using long-term (30 years) individual data on 193 female polar bears ( Ursus maritimus), we assessed age- and size-specific variation on litter size. Litter size varied with maternal age, younger females had higher chances of losing a cub during their first months of life. Results suggest an improvement in reproductive abilities early in life due to experience with subsequent reproductive senescence. Litter size increased with maternal size, indicating that size may reflect individual quality. We also found an optimum in the probability of having twins, suggesting stabilizing selection on female body size. Heterogeneity was observed among the largest females, suggesting that large size comes at a cost.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1744-9561</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1744-957X</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0070</identifier><identifier>PMID: 31039729</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>England: Royal Society, The</publisher><subject>Animals ; Biodiversity and Ecology ; Body Size ; Environmental Sciences ; Evolutionary Biology ; Female ; Litter Size ; Maternal Age ; Pregnancy ; Reproduction ; Ursidae</subject><ispartof>Biology letters (2005), 2019-05, Vol.15 (5), p.20190070-20190070</ispartof><rights>Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</rights><rights>2019 The Author(s) 2019</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03</cites><orcidid>0000-0001-7001-5142 ; 0000-0003-1657-6621 ; 0000-0002-3935-9825</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6548740/pdf/$$EPDF$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$H</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6548740/$$EHTML$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$H</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>230,314,723,776,780,881,27901,27902,53766,53768</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31039729$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed$$Hfree_for_read</backlink><backlink>$$Uhttps://hal.science/hal-02329865$$DView record in HAL$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><creatorcontrib>Folio, Dorinda Marie</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Aars, Jon</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Gimenez, Olivier</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Derocher, Andrew E</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Wiig, Øystein</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Cubaynes, Sarah</creatorcontrib><title>How many cubs can a mum nurse? Maternal age and size influence litter size in polar bears</title><title>Biology letters (2005)</title><addtitle>Biol Lett</addtitle><description>Life-history theory predicts that females' age and size affect the level of maternal investment in current reproduction, balanced against the future reproductive effort, maintenance and survival. Using long-term (30 years) individual data on 193 female polar bears ( Ursus maritimus), we assessed age- and size-specific variation on litter size. Litter size varied with maternal age, younger females had higher chances of losing a cub during their first months of life. Results suggest an improvement in reproductive abilities early in life due to experience with subsequent reproductive senescence. Litter size increased with maternal size, indicating that size may reflect individual quality. We also found an optimum in the probability of having twins, suggesting stabilizing selection on female body size. Heterogeneity was observed among the largest females, suggesting that large size comes at a cost.</description><subject>Animals</subject><subject>Biodiversity and Ecology</subject><subject>Body Size</subject><subject>Environmental Sciences</subject><subject>Evolutionary Biology</subject><subject>Female</subject><subject>Litter Size</subject><subject>Maternal Age</subject><subject>Pregnancy</subject><subject>Reproduction</subject><subject>Ursidae</subject><issn>1744-9561</issn><issn>1744-957X</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2019</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNpdkU1P3DAQhq0KVD7aa4_Ix3LYZezEdnxptULAVlrEhUrtyZrYDgQ5ztZOqODXs9HCquU0o_Ez78h6CPnCYM5AV2cp12HOgek5gIIP5JCpspxpoX7t7XrJDshRzg8AhVIgPpKDgkGhFdeH5Pey_0s7jE_UjnWmFiNF2o0djWPK_ju9xsGniIHinacYHc3ts6dtbMLoo_U0tMMGeJvSdR8w0dpjyp_IfoMh-8-v9Zj8vLy4PV_OVjdXP84Xq5kVUgyzhsvSQo3aIYCzqhKikugYcrBOOKGZVK6UqlFOV-gKrrmXzlaWWa1sDcUx-bbNXY915531cUgYzDq1HaYn02Nr_n-J7b256x-NFGWlyingdBtw_25tuViZaQZ8c7WS4pFt2K-vx1L_Z_R5MF2brQ8Bo-_HbDhnVQGcqQmdb1Gb-pyTb3bZDMzkzkzuzOTOTO42Cyf_fmSHv8kqXgDsfJXt</recordid><startdate>20190501</startdate><enddate>20190501</enddate><creator>Folio, Dorinda Marie</creator><creator>Aars, Jon</creator><creator>Gimenez, Olivier</creator><creator>Derocher, Andrew E</creator><creator>Wiig, Øystein</creator><creator>Cubaynes, Sarah</creator><general>Royal Society, The</general><general>The Royal Society</general><scope>CGR</scope><scope>CUY</scope><scope>CVF</scope><scope>ECM</scope><scope>EIF</scope><scope>NPM</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>7X8</scope><scope>1XC</scope><scope>5PM</scope><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7001-5142</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1657-6621</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3935-9825</orcidid></search><sort><creationdate>20190501</creationdate><title>How many cubs can a mum nurse? Maternal age and size influence litter size in polar bears</title><author>Folio, Dorinda Marie ; Aars, Jon ; Gimenez, Olivier ; Derocher, Andrew E ; Wiig, Øystein ; Cubaynes, Sarah</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2019</creationdate><topic>Animals</topic><topic>Biodiversity and Ecology</topic><topic>Body Size</topic><topic>Environmental Sciences</topic><topic>Evolutionary Biology</topic><topic>Female</topic><topic>Litter Size</topic><topic>Maternal Age</topic><topic>Pregnancy</topic><topic>Reproduction</topic><topic>Ursidae</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Folio, Dorinda Marie</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Aars, Jon</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Gimenez, Olivier</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Derocher, Andrew E</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Wiig, Øystein</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Cubaynes, Sarah</creatorcontrib><collection>Medline</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE (Ovid)</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>PubMed</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>MEDLINE - Academic</collection><collection>Hyper Article en Ligne (HAL)</collection><collection>PubMed Central (Full Participant titles)</collection><jtitle>Biology letters (2005)</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Folio, Dorinda Marie</au><au>Aars, Jon</au><au>Gimenez, Olivier</au><au>Derocher, Andrew E</au><au>Wiig, Øystein</au><au>Cubaynes, Sarah</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>How many cubs can a mum nurse? Maternal age and size influence litter size in polar bears</atitle><jtitle>Biology letters (2005)</jtitle><addtitle>Biol Lett</addtitle><date>2019-05-01</date><risdate>2019</risdate><volume>15</volume><issue>5</issue><spage>20190070</spage><epage>20190070</epage><pages>20190070-20190070</pages><issn>1744-9561</issn><eissn>1744-957X</eissn><abstract>Life-history theory predicts that females' age and size affect the level of maternal investment in current reproduction, balanced against the future reproductive effort, maintenance and survival. Using long-term (30 years) individual data on 193 female polar bears ( Ursus maritimus), we assessed age- and size-specific variation on litter size. Litter size varied with maternal age, younger females had higher chances of losing a cub during their first months of life. Results suggest an improvement in reproductive abilities early in life due to experience with subsequent reproductive senescence. Litter size increased with maternal size, indicating that size may reflect individual quality. We also found an optimum in the probability of having twins, suggesting stabilizing selection on female body size. Heterogeneity was observed among the largest females, suggesting that large size comes at a cost.</abstract><cop>England</cop><pub>Royal Society, The</pub><pmid>31039729</pmid><doi>10.1098/rsbl.2019.0070</doi><tpages>1</tpages><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7001-5142</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1657-6621</orcidid><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3935-9825</orcidid><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record>
fulltext fulltext
identifier ISSN: 1744-9561
ispartof Biology letters (2005), 2019-05, Vol.15 (5), p.20190070-20190070
issn 1744-9561
1744-957X
language eng
recordid cdi_pubmedcentral_primary_oai_pubmedcentral_nih_gov_6548740
source PubMed Central; Royal Society Publishing Jisc Collections Royal Society Journals Read & Publish Transitional Agreement 2025 (reading list)
subjects Animals
Biodiversity and Ecology
Body Size
Environmental Sciences
Evolutionary Biology
Female
Litter Size
Maternal Age
Pregnancy
Reproduction
Ursidae
title How many cubs can a mum nurse? Maternal age and size influence litter size in polar bears
url http://sfxeu10.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/loughborough?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-02-09T22%3A33%3A44IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-proquest_pubme&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=How%20many%20cubs%20can%20a%20mum%20nurse?%20Maternal%20age%20and%20size%20influence%20litter%20size%20in%20polar%20bears&rft.jtitle=Biology%20letters%20(2005)&rft.au=Folio,%20Dorinda%20Marie&rft.date=2019-05-01&rft.volume=15&rft.issue=5&rft.spage=20190070&rft.epage=20190070&rft.pages=20190070-20190070&rft.issn=1744-9561&rft.eissn=1744-957X&rft_id=info:doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0070&rft_dat=%3Cproquest_pubme%3E2218302171%3C/proquest_pubme%3E%3Cgrp_id%3Ecdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c565t-f264c0ba9da00dc785586ad1a20cd5d59167d467f7d98ad3292e6dc8c1c97cb03%3C/grp_id%3E%3Coa%3E%3C/oa%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=2218302171&rft_id=info:pmid/31039729&rfr_iscdi=true