DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1215m
title: Data from: Flexibility in the duration of parental care: female leopards prioritise cub survival over reproductive output

description: 1.Deciding when to terminate care of offspring is a key consideration for
 parents. Prolonging care may increase fitness of current offspring, but it
 can also reduce opportunities for future reproduction. Despite its
 evolutionary importance, few studies have explored the optimal duration of
 parental care, particularly among large carnivores. 2.We used a 40-year
 dataset to assess the trade-offs associated with the length of maternal
 care in leopards in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve, South Africa. We compared
 the costs imposed by care on the survival and residual reproductive value
 of leopard mothers against the benefits derived from maternal care in
 terms of increased offspring survival, recruitment and reproduction. We
 also examined the demographic and ecological factors affecting the
 duration of care in light of five explanatory hypotheses: litter-size,
 sex-allocation, resource-limitation, timing-of-independence, and
 terminal-investment. 3.Duration of care exhibited by female leopards
 varied markedly, from 9–35 months. Mothers did not appear to suffer any
 short- or long-term survival costs from caring for cubs, but extending
 care reduced the number of litters that mothers could produce during their
 lifetimes. Interestingly, the duration of care did not appear to affect
 the post-independence survival or reproductive success of offspring
 (although it may have indirectly affected offspring survival by
 influencing dispersal distance). However, results from generalised linear
 mixed models showed that mothers prolonged care during periods of prey
 scarcity, supporting the resource-limitation hypothesis. Female leopards
 also cared for sons longer than daughters, in line with the sex-allocation
 hypothesis. 4.Cub survival is an important determinant of the lifetime
 reproductive success in leopards. By buffering offspring against
 environmental perturbation without jeopardizing their own survivorship,
 female leopards apparently ‘hedge their bets’ with current offspring
 rather than gamble on future offspring which have a small probability of
 surviving. 5.In many species, parents put their own needs before that of
 their offspring. Leopard mothers appear sensitive to their
 offspring's demands, and adjust levels of care accordingly.
description: CoxPh.fem.survivalData used in Cox proportional hazards models to assess the short- and long-term mortality risks of maternal care for female leopards.CoxPH.fem.survival.csvCoxPH.offspring.survivalData used in Cox proportional hazards models to assess the effects of duration of maternal care and timing of independence on leopard offspring survival.GLMM.daughter.annual.reprodData used in generalized linear mixed models to assess the effects of maternal care on the annual reproductive success of leopard daughters.GLMM.daughter.first.reprodData used in generalized linear mixed models to assess the effects of maternal care on the age at first parturition for leopard daughters.GLMM.duration.careData used in generalized linear mixed models assessing the determinants of the duration of care provided by leopard mothers to offspring.GLMM_recruit (excluding offspring that disappeared prior to recruitment)Data used in generalized linear mixed models assessing the determinants of recruitment probability of leopard offspring (offspring that disappeared prior to recruitment were excluded from the analysis).GLMM_recruit (offspring that disappeared prior to recruitment considered dead)Data used in generalized linear mixed models assessing the determinants of recruitment probability of leopard offspring (offspring that disappeared prior to recruitment were considered dead).LR.care.lifespanData used in the linear regression assessing the relationship between the proportion of time that leopard mothers spent caring for offspring during their reproductive lifespans and their overall lifespans.