Date: March 21, 2019
Source: University of Groningen
Seychelles
warblers live and breed in family groups on the tiny island of Cousin. In each
group, a dominant female and male reproduce. When helpers assist the with
incubation and feeding of chicks, the dominant female breeders age more slowly
and live longer, a study by biologists from the University of Groningen and
colleagues from the Universities of East Anglia, Leeds, Sheffield, and
Wageningen shows. The results, which are published in the journal Nature
Communications on 21 March, indicate how cooperative breeding -- which
also occurs in other species, including humans -- can increase life span.
The
Seychelles warbler lives on Cousin Island in the Indian Ocean, measuring just
500 by 700 meters. Some fifty years ago, only a handful of birds survived.
However, conservation efforts have led to a spectacular increase in the
population, and new populations have been established by translocating birds to
four other islands nearby. 'There are about one hundred breeding territories on
Cousin, each with a dominant male and female and a number of subordinates,
which are often the offspring of the dominant pair', explains University of
Groningen biologist Martijn Hammers, lead author of the study.
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