Competitive social feedback amplifies the role of early life contingency in male mice
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Contingency (or "luck") in early life plays an important role in shaping individuals' development. By comparing the developmental trajectories of functionally genetically identical free-living mice who either experienced high levels of resource competition (males) or did not (females), we show that competition magnifies early contingency. Male resource competition results in a feedback loop that magnifies the importance of early contingency and pushes individuals onto divergent, self-reinforcing life trajectories, while the same process appears absent in females. Our results indicate that the strength of sexual selection may be self-limiting, and they highlight the potential for contingency to lead to differences in life outcomes, even in the absence of any underlying differences in ability ("merit").
Source: Science
Authors: Matthew N. Zipple, Daniel Chang Kuo, Xinmiao Meng, Tess M. Reichard, Kwynn Guess, Caleb C. Vogt, Andrew H. Moeller, Michael J. Sheehan
Institutions: Cornell University, Princeton University
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4406025451