DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kw8
title: Data from: Seasonality in reproduction and reproductive physiology of caviomorphs

description: Animals experience seasonal fluctuations of photoperiod, food
 availability, temperature, and precipitation. This affects their energy
 budget, often leading to seasonal reproduction. We review available
 literature and (re)‐analyse existing datasets on seasonal reproduction of
 South American caviomorph rodents that are characterised by long
 pregnancies, typically precocial young, and short lactation. While births
 occur nearly year‐round in many species, reproductive investment and
 reproductive output (litter size, offspring mass and growth) vary
 seasonally, with the largest litters often occurring in spring/summer.
 Male, as well as female, reproductive physiology varies across seasons in
 most of the investigated species. Experimental studies manipulating
 environmental aspects that usually change seasonally (photoperiod,
 nutrition, density) indicate a slightly different mechanistic basis
 driving seasonal reproduction in caviomorphs than in rodents of the
 Northern Hemisphere. Caviomorphs are a key component of various
 ecosystems, and knowledge of their reproduction and how it might be
 influenced by climate change (i.e., mean and variance of temperature and
 rainfall) is urgently needed to predict future population trends.
description: The data provided here are raw data collected from animals living
 under natural or semi-natural conditions.
description: # Data from: Seasonality in Reproduction and Reproductive Physiology of
 Caviomorphs
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kw8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3bk3j9kw8) ## Description of the data and file structure file name: original_new_data_used_in_manuscript.xlsx general: NA - indicates missing values 1. maturation in C. aperea: * ID: animal identity * birth: date and year of birth * season: season of birth * birth location: enclsoure of birth (=sire) * date of mature: date of first full opneing of vaginal membrane * date of mature - birth date * maturation_age_days - age in days until first full opening of vaginal membrane 2. C. magna littersize: * femaleID: identity of the mother * littersize: number of pups born per litter * season: season of birth * parity: primipar - mother gives birth for the first time, multipar - experienced breeder 3. C. magna pup development: * Pup_ID: animal identity * birthmass: mass within 24h after birth (g) * weanmass: mass at day 21 (g) * maturity: for females: days since birth to full opening of the vaginal membrane * growth: mass at weaning - birthmass/ 21 days * sex: animal sex * season: season of birth 4. C. porcellus reproduction: * mother: identity of mother * birth: date of birth * season: season of birth * Name: animal name * birthweight: mass within 24h after birth (g) * sex: animal sex * Litter size: number of pups in the litter * weight_d35: body mass (g) at day 35 of age * weight_d21: body mass (g) at day 21 of age * growth: weight_d21-birthweight/ 21 days of age 5. Capybara data: * id: animal identity * sex: animal sex * date: date of hunting animal * ts: combination of year and month of hunt * month: month of hunting animal * season: season of hunting * SEASON: season of hunting * pregnancy: 0 - animal not pregnant, 1 - animal pregnant * number of fetuses or embryos: number of embryos or foetuses counted at dissection * third of pregnancy: 1st, mid or last third of pregnancy stadium at day of hunt * weight_kg: animal mass in kg 6. C. aperea season + density: * female_ids: Id of the mother * exp_condition: experimental condition: low density or high density * pup_ids: identity of animal * birthdate: date of monitoring at which animal was recorded for the first time * season: season * littersize: number of pups per litter * sex_ratio: litter sex-ratio * pup_sex: sex of animal * age_days: estimated age in days * age_cat: category of age: 1 - 0-7 days of age, 1 - older than 7 days * female_mass: mass of mother at monitoring (g) * pup_mass: mass of animal at monitoring (g) * litter sex-ratios have been included in the first line for a given litter while folloing lines remain empty 7. C. aperea season + density time: * Date: date of monitoring * season: season * ID: animal identity * number of individuals per enclosure: number of animals present in enclosure at monitoring * days between recapture: days since last monitoring * treatment: low - low density, high - high density * enclosure: enclosure * sexo: sex of animal * weight: body mass (g) * preg.lac.: npreg - not pregnant, epreg - early pregnancy, lpreg - late pregnancy, lac - lactating * reproduction: 0 - not reproductively active, 1 - pregnant, 2 - lacating * repro_binary: 0 - not reproductively active, 1 - pregnant and/ or lactating 8. Tuco-Tuco hormones: * SampleID: name of sample * AnimalID: identity of animal * sex: animal sex * season: season in which sample was taken * Bodymass: mass (g) of animal at sample collection * PregnancyState: pregnancy state * PalpablePregnancy: can you feel pregnancy yes = yes, no = no * ReproductiveState: reproductive state * CaptureRecapture: recapture - repeated sample collection of same individuum * Progesterone: concentration of hormone progesterone * Estradiol: concentration of hormone estradiol * Testosterone: concentration of hormone testosterone * T3: concentration of hormone T3 * Corticosterone: concentration of hormone corticosterone * Cortisol: concentration of hormone cortisol * detailed information on hormone measurements can be found in the supplementary files. ## Code/software excel ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * none Data was derived from the following sources: * raw data collected by authors