Are size, variability and allometry of the baculum in relation to body length signals of a good condition in male weasels Mustela nivalis

Čanády, Alexander; Onderková, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2016.07.003

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Similar results were obtained for several species of family Mustelidae, i.e. for Mustela nivalis (Čanády & Onderková 2016a), Martes foina (Čanády & Onderková 2016b) and Martes martes (unpubl. data).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Our results were in accordance with data obtained by SchulteHostedde et al (2011) for Martes americana. Moreover, our results were different for both species; Mustela erminea (showed in this study) and M. nivalis (Čanády & Onderková 2016a). While RMA slopes indicated positive allometry for M. erminea, for M. nivalis was confirmed negative allometry.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…The bone size served as a reliable indicator of good genes to female mates during breeding (Krawczyk et al 2011). In our previous studies of the baculum in carnivores from Western Carpathians were proved that bacular length was generally less variable than other thickness measurements (Čanády 2013(Čanády , Čanády & Čomor 2013(Čanády , Čanády & Onderková 2016a. This may be due to the ease of measurement (measurement error), because length measurements are basically error-free.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bacular length was measured to ±0.01 mm with a digital calliper, and mass was weighed with a digital balance to ±0.01 g. All bacula were measured according to Čanády 2013Čanády , Čanády and Čomor 2013Čanády , Čanády and Onderková 2016a. The measurements collected are described in Figure 1a-b and they include: LeBa -baculum length (1-1´), DvThp -dorsoventral thickness of proximal end (2-2´), DvThd -dorsoventral thickness of distal end (3-3´), LtLtThp -laterolateral thickness of proximal end (4-4´), LtLtThd -laterolateral thickness of distal end (5-5´) and finally the WeBa -baculum weight.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Morphology of the mustelid baculum has been described in several studies (Burt 1960, van Soest & van Bree 1970, King & Moody 1982, Grue & King 1984, Barysh nikov & Abramov 1997, Abramov & Baryshnikov 2000, Baryshnikov et al 2003, Elsasser & Parker 2008, Ruette et al 2015, Čanády & Onderková 2016a, which show that this bone tends to be rather simple in structure but with some more complex projections at the tip. A multi-male mating system occurs in many species of Mustelidae (Lariviére & Jennings 2009), so the baculum may be under strong sexual selection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Morphological variation and allometry of the baculum in stoats, Mustela erminea (Carnivora, Mustelidae) from Western Carpathians

Csanády¹,

Onderková²

2018

Acta Zool Acad Sci H

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In this study we investigated allometry and variation in the baculum of the stoat Mustela erminea and compared it with head-and-body length not involved in reproduction. The stoat is a species with pre-copulatory selection (manifested by the high degree of malebiased sexual size dimorphism) therefore we predicted that baculum allometry may be isometric or exhibited negative allometry. We also test the hypothesis that the baculum size is positively correlated with adult body size and may be used as a reliable indicator of male good condition. Results presented in this study were different according to which regression model type was used. While the OLS slope for baculum length in M. erminea indicated negative allometry, the RMA model showed positive allometry. The results obtained for M. erminea weren't in agreement with mentioned hypothesis that if baculum allometry is affected by the degree of pre-copulatory selection relative to post-copulatory selection, then we predict isometry or negative allometry of the baculum. Nevertheless, we suggest, that to confirm the above statements further analysis of more numerous material of M. erminea coupled with comparative analysis of testicular growth studies are needed to fully understand the importance and function of the baculum relative to the mating system.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Morphological variation and allometry of the baculum in stoats, Mustela erminea (Carnivora, Mustelidae) from Western Carpathians

Csanády¹,

Onderková²

2018

Acta Zool Acad Sci H

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Baculum shape complexity correlates to metrics of post‐copulatory sexual selection in Musteloidea

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Grant

Gardiner

et al. 2023

Journal of Morphology

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The penis bone, or baculum, is present in many orders of mammals, although its function is still relatively unknown, mainly due to the challenges with studying the baculum in vivo. Suggested functions include increasing vaginal friction, prolonging intromission and inducing ovulation. Since it is difficult to study baculum function directly, functional morphology can give important insights. Shape complexity techniques, in particular, are likely to offer a useful metric of baculum morphology, especially since finding homologous landmarks on such a structure is challenging.This study focuses on measuring baculum shape complexity in the Musteloidea-a large superfamily spanning a range of body sizes with well-developed, qualitatively diverse bacula. We compared two shape complexity metrics-alpha shapes and ariaDNE and conducted analyses over a range of six different coefficients, or bandwidths, in 32 species of Musteloidea. Overall, we found that shape complexity, especially at the baculum distal tip, is associated with intromission duration using both metrics. These complexities can include hooks, bifurcations and other additional projections. In addition, alpha shapes complexity was also associated with relative testes mass. These results suggest that post-copulatory mechanisms of sexual selection are probably driving the evolution of more complex-shaped bacula tips in Musteloidea and are likely to be especially involved in increasing intromission duration during copulation.

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Are baculum size and allometry a response to post-copulatory sexual selection in promiscuous males of the house mouse?

Csanády

Duranková

Labancová³

2019

Zoomorphology

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Are size, variability and allometry of the baculum in relation to body length signals of a good condition in male weasels Mustela nivalis

Cited by 11 publications

References 21 publications

Morphological variation and allometry of the baculum in stoats, Mustela erminea (Carnivora, Mustelidae) from Western Carpathians

Morphological variation and allometry of the baculum in stoats, Mustela erminea (Carnivora, Mustelidae) from Western Carpathians

Baculum shape complexity correlates to metrics of post‐copulatory sexual selection in Musteloidea

Are baculum size and allometry a response to post-copulatory sexual selection in promiscuous males of the house mouse?

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