Dr. Loren Hayes will present “Mammalian communal care of offspring: Who cares and why?” on Wednesday, October 15, 3-4 p.m. in the Chickamauga Room of the UTC University Center. This event is free and open to the public.
Hayes, Associate Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, will offer an explanation of his research at the fall gathering of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, UTC Chapter.
Nearly 15 percent of mammals are social, living in groups of varying size and composition for most or all of their adult lives. In some species, multiple mothers live and rear offspring together, a behavior referred to as plural breeding with communal rearing.
A major goal of this research is to determine the ecological and evolutionary conditions that favor plural breeding with communal care.
Hayes has been engaged in a decade-long study of group-living and communal rearing in the degu (Octodon degus), a plural breeding rodent endemic to Chile. This research is funded by the National Science Foundation and has supported 30 U.S. student researchers in Chile.
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, is the international honor society of science and engineering. It is one of the oldest and largest scientific organizations in the world, with a distinguished history of service to science and society for more than 125 years.
For more information, visit Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, UTC Chapter.
