Maternal Effects in Mammals
Dario Maestripieri, Jill M. Mateo
University Of Chicago Press
<P>Evolutionary maternal effects occur whenever a mother’s phenotypic traits directly affect her offspring’s phenotype, independent of the offspring’s genotype. Some of the phenotypic traits that result in maternal effects have a genetic basis, whereas others are environmentally determined. For example, the size of a litter produced by a mammalian mother—a trait with a strong genetic basis—can affect the growth rate of her offspring, while a mother’s dominance rank—an environmentally determined trait—can affect the dominance rank of her offspring. </P>  <P>            The first volume published on the subject in more than a decade, <I>Maternal Effects in Mammals</I> reflects advances in genomic, ecological, and behavioral research, as well new understandings of the evolutionary interplay between mothers and their offspring. Dario Maestripieri and Jill M. Mateo bring together a learned group of contributors to synthesize the vast literature on a range of species, highlight evolutionary processes that were previously overlooked, and propose new avenues of research. <I>Maternal Effects in Mammals</I> will serve as the most comprehensive compendium on and stimulus for interdisciplinary treatments of mammalian maternal effects.</P>  <P> </P>