Male reproductive tactics to increase paternity in the polygynandrous Columbian ground squirrel (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Urocitellus columbianus</Emphasis>) |
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Authors: | Shirley Raveh Dik Heg Vincent A Viblanc David W Coltman Jamieson C Gorrell F Stephen Dobson Adele Balmer Peter Neuhaus |
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Institution: | 1.Department of Eco-Ethology, Institute of Biology,University of Neuchatel,Neuchatel,Switzerland;2.Department of Behavioural Ecology,University of Bern,Hinterkappelen,Switzerland;3.Départment Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie,IPHC, UMR 7178, CNRS-UdS,Strasbourg Cedex 02,France;4.Department of Biological Sciences,University of Alberta,Edmonton,Canada;5.Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—UMR 5175,Montpellier Cedex 5,France;6.Department of Biological Sciences,Auburn University,Auburn,USA;7.Department of Biological Sciences,University of Calgary,Calgary,Canada;8.Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology,Austrian Academy of Sciences,Vienna,Austria |
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Abstract: | In polyandrous and polygynandrous species where females mate with multiple partners, males are expected to maximize their
fitness by exhibiting an array of reproductive behaviors to ensure fertilization success, such as competing for the best mating
order within a mating sequence, optimizing their investment in copulation, and mate guarding. Though there is genetic evidence
of a first-male precedence in siring success for many mammalian species, the causes of this effect are poorly understood.
We studied influences on first-male precedence in Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus). We found that the time a male spent consorting and mate guarding declined with his mating order (both the highest for the
first male to mate). Mate guarding by the first male significantly reduced, but did not exclude, the number of additional
males a female accepted. Later mating males reduced the time spent consorting, suggesting a perceived decreased chance of
fertilization success. Consortship and mate guarding durations were positively related to the male’s siring success and to
each other, suggesting that males adjusted these behaviors strategically to increase their chances of fertilization success.
Our results suggest that besides being the first male to consort, first-male sperm precedence is further enhanced through
longer mating bouts and by suppressing the chances and/or efforts of later mating males. |
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