Squirrels that Gamble on Reproduction Often End Up Winning the Bet

In this episode of Michigan Minds, U-M associate professor of psychology and ecology & evolutionary biology Ben Dantzer, PhD and National Science Foundation postdoctoral biopsychology research fellow at U-M Lauren Petrullo, PhD detail their research project, which studies how squirrels reproduce in years in which food is abundant and when it is not, and the long-term impact of those behaviors. The researchers found that some female red squirrels have large litters in years when there won’t be enough food for all their pups to survive the winter and wanted to understand why. 

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