@article{7727,
  abstract     = {Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been shown to influence social signalling and mate preferences in many species, including humans. First observations suggest that MHC signalling may also affect female fertility. To test this hypothesis, we exposed 191 female horses (Equus caballus) to either an MHC-similar or an MHC-dissimilar stimulus male around the time of ovulation and conception. A within-subject experimental design controlled for non-MHC-linked male characteristics, and instrumental insemination with semen of other males (n = 106) controlled for potential confounding effects of semen or embryo characteristics. We found that females were more likely to become pregnant if exposed to an MHC-dissimilar than to an MHC-similar male, while overall genetic distance to the stimulus males (based on microsatellite markers on 20 chromosomes) had no effect. Our results demonstrate that early pregnancy failures can be due to maternal life-history decisions (cryptic female choice) influenced by MHC-linked social signalling.},
  author       = {Burger, D. and Thomas, S. and Aepli, H. and Dreyer, M. and Fabre, G. and Marti, E. and Sieme, H. and Robinson, Matthew Richard and Wedekind, C.},
  issn         = {0962-8452},
  journal      = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
  number       = {1868},
  publisher    = {The Royal Society},
  title        = {{Major histocompatibility complex-linked social signalling affects female fertility}},
  doi          = {10.1098/rspb.2017.1824},
  volume       = {284},
  year         = {2017},
}

@article{7741,
  abstract     = {Phenotypes expressed in a social context are not only a function of the individual, but can also be shaped by the phenotypes of social partners. These social effects may play a major role in the evolution of cooperative breeding if social partners differ in the quality of care they provide and if individual carers adjust their effort in relation to that of other carers. When applying social effects models to wild study systems, it is also important to explore sources of individual plasticity that could masquerade as social effects. We studied offspring provisioning rates of parents and helpers in a wild population of long-tailed tits Aegithalos caudatus using a quantitative genetic framework to identify these social effects and partition them into genetic, permanent environment and current environment components. Controlling for other effects, individuals were consistent in their provisioning effort at a given nest, but adjusted their effort based on who was in their social group, indicating the presence of social effects. However, these social effects differed between years and social contexts, indicating a current environment effect, rather than indicating a genetic or permanent environment effect. While this study reveals the importance of examining environmental and genetic sources of social effects, the framework we present is entirely general, enabling a greater understanding of potentially important social effects within any ecological population.},
  author       = {Adams, Mark James and Robinson, Matthew Richard and Mannarelli, Maria-Elena and Hatchwell, Ben J.},
  issn         = {0962-8452},
  journal      = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
  number       = {1810},
  publisher    = {The Royal Society},
  title        = {{Social genetic and social environment effects on parental and helper care in a cooperatively breeding bird}},
  doi          = {10.1098/rspb.2015.0689},
  volume       = {282},
  year         = {2015},
}