William Swaney

Sep 26, 2024 | nature.com | Stefan Fischer |Callum Duffield |William Swaney |Jane Hurst

AbstractRelationships between adult females are fundamental to understanding diversity in animal social systems. While cooperative relationships between kin are known to promote fitness benefits, the proximate mechanisms underlying this are not well understood. Here we show that when related female house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) cooperate to rear young communally, those with higher endogenous oxytocin levels have more egalitarian and successful cooperative relationships.