Shared community effects and the non-genetic maternal environment shape cortisol levels in wild chimpanzees.

Communications biology 2023 May 26

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Mechanisms of inheritance remain poorly defined for many fitness-mediating traits, especially in long-lived animals with protracted development. Using 6,123 urinary samples from 170 wild chimpanzees, we examined the contributions of genetics, non-genetic maternal effects, and shared community effects on variation in cortisol levels, an established predictor of survival in long-lived primates. Despite evidence for consistent individual variation in cortisol levels across years, between-group effects were more influential and made an overwhelming contribution to variation in this trait. Focusing on within-group variation, non-genetic maternal effects accounted for 8% of the individual differences in average cortisol levels, significantly more than that attributable to genetic factors, which was indistinguishable from zero. These maternal effects are consistent with a primary role of a shared environment in shaping physiology. For chimpanzees, and perhaps other species with long life histories, community and maternal effects appear more relevant than genetic inheritance in shaping key physiological traits. © 2023. The Author(s).

Citation

Patrick J Tkaczynski, Fabrizio Mafessoni, Cédric Girard-Buttoz, Liran Samuni, Corinne Y Ackermann, Pawel Fedurek, Cristina Gomes, Catherine Hobaiter, Therese Löhrich, Virgile Manin, Anna Preis, Prince D Valé, Erin G Wessling, Livia Wittiger, Zinta Zommers, Klaus Zuberbuehler, Linda Vigilant, Tobias Deschner, Roman M Wittig, Catherine Crockford. Shared community effects and the non-genetic maternal environment shape cortisol levels in wild chimpanzees. Communications biology. 2023 May 26;6(1):565