We researched the prevalence and occurrence of abortions and stillbirths in African and Asian elephants. This allowed us to determine the months of gestation during which reproductive loss is the most prevalent.

Huijsmans, T.E.R.G.; Van Soom, A.; Smits, K.; Wauters, J.; Hagan, D.; Hildebrandt, T.B. Elephant gestation: insights into idiopathic abortions and stillbirth. Zoo Biology 2024. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081360

Animals have to balance the investment of energy in their offspring with the energy they require for their own survival, also referred to as the maternal investment-survival balance. We reviewed the role of prolactin in this balance.

Huijsmans, T.E.R.G.; Van Soom, A.; Smits, K.; Wauters, J.; Hildebrandt, T.B. Review: The role of prolactin in the maternal investment-survival balance. Theriogenology Wild 2024, 5, 100109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.therwi.2024.100109

We established a metric to quantify maternal investment across mammalian species, to make it possible to compare the investment of mothers of different species in their offspring.

Huijsmans, T.E.R.G.; Courtiol, A.; Van Soom, A.; Smits, K.; Rousset, F.; Wauters, J.; Hildebrandt, T.B. (2024). Quantifying maternal investment in mammals using allometry. Communications Biology, 7, 475. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06165-x

Many species are threatened with extinction. A consequence of the decreasing population sizes is the loss of genetic diversity. Deceased animals can be an important source for the collection of gametes, without having a negative effect on living animals. Therefore, the use of dead animals needs to be considered for conservation purposes.

Huijsmans, T.E.R.G.; Hassan, H.A.; Smits, K.; Van Soom, A. Postmortem Collection of Gametes for the Conservation of Endangered Mammals: A Review of the Current State-of-the-Art. Animals 2023, 13, 1360. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13081360