We investigate how environmental and genetic factors interact to regulate reproductive development, behavioural phenotype, and neural plasticity in naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber). We study naked mole-rats because they live in large social groups with strict social and reproductive hierarchies. Through investigating neuroendocrine and molecular mechanisms associated with social status, social behaviour, and reproduction – and how these change throughout development – our research helps us understand the relationship between social interactions and brain function in social mammals.
About the Naked mole-rat
Naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber) are eusocial, which is an extreme form of co-operative breeding. They live in large colonies of up to 300 individuals in which reproduction is usually restricted to a single breeding female (called the queen) and her male consort. Importantly, breeders of both sexes are socially dominant over other members of the colony; the remaining animals, called subordinates, are kept non-reproductive by the presence of the queen. However, this reproductive suppression is not permanent: adult subordinates can become breeders if they are removed from the colony and paired with an opposite sex mate. Some subordinates show evidence of stable temperament and/or task specialization, which we call “social phenotype”. Broadly speaking, we classify subordinates into three phenotypes: workers, soldiers, and dispersers. Workers primarily engage in colony maintenance tasks such as digging, foraging, and alloparental care. Soldiers, while also performing some maintenance tasks, are distinguished by aggressive behaviour towards unfamiliar animals. Dispersers are characterized by a tendency to leave their natal colony.
Research Spotlight
Our ongoing projects include:
- Sculpting of social phenotype in early life
- Neural and hormonal mechanisms controlling social phenotype in adulthood
- Molecular pathways controlling reproductive suppression and pubertal activation
