1.While biomedical researchers have long appreciated the influence of maternally-derived glucocorticoids on offspring phenotype, ecologists have only recently begun exploring its impact in wild animals. Interpreting biomedical findings within an ecological context has posited that maternal stress, mediated by elevations of maternal glucocorticoids, may play an adaptive role preparing offspring for a stressful or rigorous environment. Yet, the influence of maternal stress on offspring phenotype has been little studied in wild animals. 2.We experimentally elevated glucocorticoids to ecologically-relevant levels (mimicking glucocorticoid increases in maternal stress hormones following a non-lethal predator encounter, a heat challenge, or a chasing or confinement stressor) in female eastern fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) during gestation. We tested the hypothesis that maternally-derived stress hormones themselves are sufficient to alter offspring phenotype. Specifically, we examined the effects of experimentally elevated maternal glucocorticoids on fitness-relevant traits of the mother, her eggs, and her subsequent offspring. 3.We found that daily maternal glucocorticoid elevation: a) increased maternal antipredator behaviours and post-laying glucose levels; b) had no effect on egg morphology or caloric value, but altered yolk hormone (elevated glucocorticoid) and nutrient content; and c) altered offspring phenotype including stress-relevant physiology, morphology, and behaviour. 4.These findings reveal that maternally-derived glucocorticoids alone can alter offspring phenotype in a wild animal; changes that may be mediated via maternal behaviour, and egg hormone and nutrient content. Understanding the ecological consequences of these effects under different environmental conditions will be critical for determining the adaptive significance of elevated maternal glucocorticoids for offspring. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 7. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 08 March 2022.
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#6,600,097
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Outputs of similar age from Journal of Animal Ecology
#19
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Altmetric has tracked 31,713,059 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 79th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,822 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 19.1. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 59% of its peers.
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