Sibling competition and hunger increase allostatic load in spotted hyaenas

Allostatis is the process of maintaining homeostatis through behavioural or physiological responses to challenges, and its cumulative energetic cost is termed allostatic load. The allostatic load hypothesis predicts that hunger and the mechanisms that establish and maintain social dominance should have a strong impact on allostatic load. In spotted hyaenas, dominance between twin siblings emerges during intense early competition for maternal milk and involves trained winner/loser effects. Conflict over access to teats declines with age as behavioural dominance conventions are established. In young litters, the allostatic load of subordinates measured in terms of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations (fGMCs) should be higher than that of dominants. When low milk provisioning threatens survival, hungry subordinates are more assertive, particularly when competing against a dominant sister. Dominants challenged by assertive subordinates should have allostatic loads and fGMCs above those of dominants with subordinates that adhere to dominance conventions. We show that in young litters, subordinates had significantly higher fGMCs than dominants, and dominant sisters had significantly higher fGMCs than dominant brothers. When hungry, both dominants and subordinates had significantly higher fGMCs than when fed. Our results provide evidence that hunger and sibling competition affect allostatic load in spotted hyaenas.