Age-specific patterns of maternal investment in common gull egg yolk

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Monika Okuliarova, Kalev Rattiste, Peeter Hõrak, Janek Urvik, Tuul Sepp, Mathieu Giraudeau
• Other Authors: University of Tartu, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (IAES), Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU), University of Exeter, Comenius University in Bratislava
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous); General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; carotenoids; maternal effects; Evolutionary Biology; archeo; socio; Larus canus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0346; https://zenodo.org/record/3381052; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0346; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0346; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0346; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29997189; https://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/14/7/20180346; https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2828332117; https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-03025543; https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6083236/

While the general patterns of age-specific changes in reproductive success are quite well established in long-lived animals, we still do not know if allocation patterns of maternally transmitted compounds are related to maternal age. We measured the levels of yolk testosterone, carotenoids and vitamins A and E in a population of known-aged common gulls ( Larus canus ) and found an age-specific pattern in yolk lutein and vitamin A concentrations. Middle-aged mothers allocated more of these substances to yolk compared to young and old mothers. These results can be explained through differences in age-specific foraging, absorption or deposition patterns of carotenoids and vitamins into yolk. If these molecules play a role in antioxidant defence and immune modulation, our results suggest a possible physiological pathway underlying the age-specific changes in reproductive success of long-lived birds in the wild.