Organisms can adapt to variable environments by using environmental cues to modulate
developmental gene expression. In principle, maternal influences can adaptively adjust …

Cooperative breeding in birds typically occurs when offspring–usually males–delay
dispersal from their natal group, remaining with the family to help rear younger kin. Sex …

Group living is predicted to arise only when the fitness benefits outweigh the costs of
sociality. Group-living species—including cooperatively breeding and family-living birds and …

Iridescence is widespread in the living world, occurring in organisms as diverse as bacteria,
plants, and animals. Yet, compared to pigment-based forms of coloration, we know …

Highlights•A social bird that breeds in kin neighbourhoods winters in flocks.•Kinship
positively affects flocking decisions and strength of social associations.•When birds switch …

For animals that tend to remain with their natal group rather than individually disperse, group
sizes may become too large to benefit individual fitness. In such cases, group splitting (or …

Determining how sibling interactions alter the fitness outcomes of dispersal is pivotal for the
understanding of family living, but such studies are currently scarce. Using a large …

The cost of reproduction results in a life-history trade-off where investment in current
reproduction via costly parental care decreases subsequent fitness. Although this trade-off is …

While cooperative interactions among kin are a key building block in the societies of group-
living species, their importance for species with more variable social environments is …

Although animal societies often evolve due to limited natal dispersal that results in kin
clustering and facilitates cooperation among relatives, many species form cooperative …