The ontogeny of foraging in meerkats, a cooperatively breeding mongoose

Delayed reproductive life histories characterize many singular cooperative breeders, where the onset of first breeding is often delayed beyond adulthood. These delays are commonly attributed to factors including inbreeding avoidance and reproductive suppression, but an additional possibility is that the slow development of foraging skills constrains successful reproduction because of its energetic demands. While this explanation for delayed breeding has found limited support, there is evidence in some cooperative breeders of relatively long foraging ontogenies that could influence reproduction. To investigate whether delays in foraging skill acquisition might contribute to delays in a cooperatively breeding mammal's reproductive life-history, we analysed age-related changes in the foraging behaviour of meerkats, Suricata suricatta, in the Kalahari Desert. Kalahari meerkats are primarily insectivorous, although they also predate some small vertebrates and forage most of their prey by digging them up from below ground. We found that age-related increases in the rate of prey capture and in the size of the prey consumed level off at 9 months old, although improvements in foraging efficiency continue until individuals are around 1 year of age. Sex and dominance status had little effect on foraging performance. Our results indicate that meerkats' foraging skills mature around the onset of adulthood, well before dominance is usually acquired, the point at which successful breeding commonly begins. As a result, the acquisition of foraging skills is unlikely to delay the onset of successful breeding in meerkats. Instead, the maturation of foraging performance is more closely aligned with the age at which individuals' growth begins to asymptote, suggesting their foraging ontogeny may be constrained by physical traits.