Assortative Mating in Fallow Deer Reduces the Strength of Sexual Selection

Farrell, Mary E.; Briefer, Elodie F.; McElligott, Alan G.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018533

Cited by 28 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Assortative mating occurs when individuals with certain traits or phenotypes (e.g., age or body size) mate more often with each other than is expected by chance. For example, in fallow deer (Dama dama), yearling females were more likely to mate with younger, less-dominant males than older females (Farrell et al 2011). However, we saw no indication that bison mated with individuals of similar age.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral versus genetic measures of fitness in bison bulls (Bison bison)

Mooring¹,

Penedo²

2014

J Mammal

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Accurate measures of fitness are important for both basic research on sexual selection and applied conservation actions to promote genetic diversity. For polygynous mammals, good estimates of male reproductive success are often critically important, but especially difficult to obtain. Because the genetic contribution of males is impossible to directly measure in the field, investigators have developed surrogate measures of fitness based on behavioral observations. Such measures are founded on the assumption that observed mating success can reliably predict reproductive success, yet only a few studies have been in a position to validate the accuracy of this assumption. We studied the bison herd at Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge for 8 years, conducting intensive behavioral observations on breeding behavior during the rut (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)) and collecting tissue samples of calves born the following year (2004-2010) for genetic paternity analysis. Our results reveal 2 major trends also observed in other studies: Estimates of mating success were positively correlated with reproductive success when we pooled the entire herd across age classes or years. However, copulatory success did a poor job of predicting the actual number of offspring sired by individual males. For example, 44% of observed matings did not result in the birth of offspring, and 60% of the copulations that did produce a calf did not accurately predict the sire bull. Generalized linear mixed model analysis revealed that observation of mating by a given bull in itself had no predictive power regarding likelihood of paternity, whereas total copulations per season, dominance status, and age of bull or dam significantly influenced the probability of siring offspring. Although use of behavioral data was unable to predict the sire for particular cows, it did give insights into patterns of reproductive success that use of genetic data alone could not provide, such as the role of alternate mating strategies and sperm competition for male reproductive success. We conclude that both behavioral and genetic measures of fitness are needed to understand sexual selection and meet the challenges faced by species of conservation concern.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral versus genetic measures of fitness in bison bulls (Bison bison)

Mooring¹,

Penedo²

2014

J Mammal

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“…Also based on previous work, we predicted old males (i.e., past their prime) to be disfavored in both pre-and postcopulatory competition (Dean et al 2010). It is also possible that younger males may be less competitive than males in their prime as has been found in other species (e.g., Farrell et al 2011), but the evidence for this effect is less clear in male fowl (Dean et al 2010;Cornwallis et al 2014). We show that male average aggressiveness and age play important and independent roles in sexual selection.…”

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confidence: 86%

“…For example, in coalitions of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, older (i.e., post-prime) males are socially subordinate to younger adult males in their prime (Berghänel et al 2011). Similarly, in lekking fallow deer, Dama dama, male status peaks at intermediate ages (Farrell et al 2011). Male age has been shown to shape male reproductive success in fowl populations through male reproductive senescence, which penalizes older competitors (Dean et al 2010;Noguera et al 2012;Cornwallis et al 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection favor aggressive, young males in polyandrous groups of red junglefowl

et al. 2017

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A challenge in evolutionary biology is to understand the operation of sexual selection on males in polyandrous groups, where sexual selection occurs before and after mating. Here, we combine fine-grained behavioral information (>41,000 interactions) with molecular parentage data to study sexual selection in replicated, age-structured groups of polyandrous red junglefowl, Gallus gallus. Male reproductive success was determined by the number of females mated (precopulatory sexual selection) and his paternity share, which was driven by the polyandry of his female partners (postcopulatory sexual selection). Pre- and postcopulatory components of male reproductive success covaried positively; males with high mating success also had high paternity share. Two male phenotypes affected male pre- and postcopulatory performance: average aggressiveness toward rival males and age. Aggressive males mated with more females and more often with individual females, resulting in higher sexual exclusivity. Similarly, younger males mated with more females and more often with individual females, suffering less intense sperm competition than older males. Older males had a lower paternity share even allowing for their limited sexual exclusivity, indicating they may produce less competitive ejaculates. These results show that-in these populations-postcopulatory sexual selection reinforces precopulatory sexual selection, consistently promoting younger and more aggressive males.

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“…Opinions on ungulate female choice are still divided because males often try to restrict female movements and thereby might constrain female choice (Clutton-Brock and McAuliffe 2009;Bro-Jørgensen 2011), but nevertheless, there is strong evidence for ungulate female mate choice, including in fallow deer (Komers et al 1999;Bro-Jørgensen 2002;Byers and Waits 2006;Bowyer et al 2011;Farrell et al 2011;Dunn et al 2012). In addition, reports of polyandry in cervids are very rare (Endo and Doi 2002;Vanpé et al 2009).…”

Section: Communicated By Ke Ruckstuhlmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Matings happen during the rut in October (northern hemisphere) and fawns are born during the following June (Langbein and Putman 1992;Lord 2006). Older multiparous females (>2 years old) mate both earlier in the rut and with older and higher-ranking males, compared to yearling, primiparous females (Farrell et al 2011). When in estrus, most females mate once (Farrell 2001;Harty 2002;Say et al 2003).…”

Section: Communicated By Ke Ruckstuhlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fallow deer polyandry is related to fertilization insurance

Briefer

Farrell

Hayden

et al. 2013

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Polyandry is widespread, but its adaptive significance is not fully understood. The hypotheses used to explain its persistence have rarely been tested in the wild and particularly for large, long-lived mammals. We investigated polyandry in fallow deer, using female mating and reproduction data gathered over 10 years. Females of this species produce a single offspring (monotocous) and can live to 23 years old. Overall, polyandry was evident in 12 % of females and the long-term, consistent proportion of polyandrous females observed, suggests that monandry and polyandry represent alternative mating strategies. Females were more likely to be polyandrous when their first mate had previously achieved high numbers of matings during the rut or was relatively old. However, polyandry was not related to the following factors: female age, the stage of the rut, the dominance ranks of mates, or the number of daily matings achieved by males. Polyandrous and monandrous multiplemating females were not more likely than single-mating females to be observed with an offspring during the following year, and there were no significant differences in offspring size between these females. These results provide support for a fertility insurance hypothesis, with females remating if fertilization from the first mating was uncertain due to possible sperm depletion. The potential for different female mating strategies among large, polygynous mammals has generally been overlooked. Our findings highlight the complexity of female reproductive strategies and the possible trade-offs between fertilization success, preferences for high-quality males, and potential costs of polyandry, particularly for monotocous species.

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Assortative Mating in Fallow Deer Reduces the Strength of Sexual Selection

Cited by 28 publications

References 56 publications

Behavioral versus genetic measures of fitness in bison bulls (Bison bison)

Behavioral versus genetic measures of fitness in bison bulls (Bison bison)

Pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection favor aggressive, young males in polyandrous groups of red junglefowl

Fallow deer polyandry is related to fertilization insurance

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