Ontogeny

By investigating the ontogeny, or development, of meerkats one can better understand the proximate causes of why co-operative breeding is seen in meerkat groups.

meerkat taking a rest

Image courtesy of raptor.co.za

Helping the pups

 Helpers (this number varies) assist in guarding and feeding the pups during the first 10-12 weeks after birth.   At one month, the pups start to travel with the group, at which time all meerkats over 3 months help in feeding the younger pup.  They continue to help until the new pup is itself 3 months old, at which point it is able to forage independently (Russell et al, 2007).  The amount of food that pups receive and their rate of daily weight gain dependent on the number of helpers, which is why pup survival and fitness increases with group size.

Competition for resources within the group is low due to this co-operation in foraging (Clutton-Brock et al, 2001), and well-fed individuals are more likely to expend energy for the benefit of others; this doesn’t mean that meerkats help indiscriminately. Female helpers preferentially feed female pups, probably because these pups represent the future workforce that might one day help to raise the helpers' own litters.  (Ross-Gillespie & Griffin, 2007)

2 adorable meerkat pups

Photo courtesy of itech.pjc.edu

Infanticide

Life ends soon after it begins for many meerkat pups.  This is often due to infanticide, both by the dominant and subordinate female meerkats.  However, infanticide often results when more than one female in a single group is pregnant at the same time.  The dominant female is more likely to be pregnant, and control the pregnancies of the subordinate females in the group (Young & Clutton-Brock, 2006).  As a result, 80% of pups which reach independent are those of the dominant female.