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Research reveals how big families help female squirrels survive
Family-group support and better foraging skills helped juvenile Belding's ground squirrels survive, researchers found.
- A new study published in PLOS One reveals that adult female Belding's ground squirrels are more likely to survive year to year if they live near more adult female kin, significantly boosting their survival chances.
- Researchers analyzed 25 years of demographic data on Belding's ground squirrels at an eastern Sierra field site to identify survival factors. Mateo, from the University of Chicago, noted that female kin alert each other to danger and protect offspring from infanticide.
- Young females do not experience the same benefits as adults because they face stiffer competition for food and burrows, preventing the survival boost observed in other groups.
- Beyond social factors, the study found that heavier individuals and shorter snowy seasons improve survival rates for these hibernating rodents, though climate change is a concern as snowfall declines across the Belding's ground squirrels' range in the United States.
- Mateo emphasized that an animal's social structure, physiological state, and response to the climate all interact to shape survival, a finding increasingly important as snowfall declines across the Belding's ground squirrels' range due to climate change.
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Leaning Left2Leaning Right2Center16Last UpdatedBias Distribution80% Center
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C 80%
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