ArticleRoyal Society open science2016
Evolutionary implications of interspecific variation in a maternal effect: a meta-analysis of yolk testosterone response to competition.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Using host species traits to understand the consequences of resource provisioning for host-parasite interactions.The Journal of animal ecology · 2018Pooled it
- Handling Stress and Sample Storage Are Associated with Weaker Complement-Mediated Bactericidal Ability in Birds but Not Bats.Physiological and biochemical zoology : PBZPooled it
- Rooftop Breeding Does Not Consistently Explain Variation in Yolk Testosterone in Herring Gulls.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Elevating Testosterone and Androstenedione Produces Temporary Sex-Dependent Variation in Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) Embryonic Development.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2025Article
- Forecasting the future? Differential allocation of maternal hormones under different social contexts in the blue titRoyal Society open science · 2025Article
- Egg components and offspring survival vary with group size and laying order in a cooperative breeder.Oecologia · 2023Article
- Maternally derived hormones, neurosteroids and the development of behaviour.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- How research on female vertebrates contributes to an expanded challenge hypothesis.Hormones and behavior · 2020Review
- Maternal effects and urbanization: Variation of yolk androgens and immunoglobulin in city and forest blackbirds.Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
- Article
- Predation risk affects egg mass but not egg steroid hormone concentrations in yellow-legged gulls.Current zoology · 2019Article
- The developmental environment modulates mating-induced aggression and fighting success in adult femaleFunctional ecology · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Competition between conspecifics during the breeding season can result in behavioural and physiological programming of offspring via maternal effects. For birds, in which maternal effects are best studied, it has been claimed that exposure to increased competition causes greater deposition of testosterone into egg yolks, which creates faster growing, more aggressive offspring; such traits are thought to be beneficial for high-competition environments. Nevertheless, not all species show a positive relationship between competitive interactions and yolk testosterone, and an explanation for this interspecific variation is lacking. We here test if the magnitude and direction of maternal testosterone allocated to eggs in response to competition can be explained by life-history traits while accounting for phylogenetic relationships. We performed a meta-analysis relating effect size of yolk testosterone response to competition with species coloniality, nest type, parental effort and mating type. We found that effect size was moderated by coloniality and nest type; colonial species and those with open nests allocate less testosterone to eggs when in more competitive environments. Applying a life-history perspective helps contextualize studies showing little or negative responses of yolk testosterone to competition and improves our understanding of how variation in this maternal effect may have evolved.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.