Fig. 4

Effect of reproduction on fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations in the absence of food limitation. Longitudinal profile of median fGCMs (\(\upmu\)g/g org. content) for each sampling day, in captive banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) (one female, three males), northeastern Botswana (2008–2011). Before May 2010 we suppressed estrus and observed no reproductive behavior until mating (October 2010, dotted line a). During their reproductive period, the female bore two litters (dotted lines b and c) and the group suffered predation and group invasions. Median fGCMs for the non-reproductive baseline and reproductive periods differed 10-fold (secondary y-axis: change relative to non-reproductive baseline). Portions of this dataset are summarized elsewhere [38]