Effect of paternal age on the birth sex ratio in captive populations of aye‐aye (<i>Daubentonia madagascariensis</i> (Gmelin))

Tanaka, Yosuke; Fukano, Yuya; Nakamura, Masato

doi:10.1002/zoo.21487

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…We calculated each male reproductive success as the number of pups sired by a male divided by the mean number of pups sired by all the breeding males. Reproductive success strongly increases with age in southern elephant seals (Clinton & Le Boeuf, 1993;Lloyd et al, 2020), and age affects OSR (Edwards & Cameron, 2014;Santos et al, 2015;Tanaka et al, 2019). We, thus, added body length to our model as a proxy for age (McLaren, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offspring sex ratio increases with male reproductive success in the polygynous southern elephant seals

Allegue¹,

Guinet²,

Patrick³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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In polygynous species, most dominant males sire a disproportionate number of offspring and dominance rank is assumed to be age dependent. Yet, extreme inter-male competition and high early male mortality prevent most males from reaching a social status that could guaranty a high reproductive success. Alternative reproductive tactics may have evolved to maximize male reproductive success despite a low social rank. One of them, offspring sex-ratio adjustment, may allow males to produce more offspring of the sex that will provide a higher fitness. If traits influencing dominance in males are heritable and if the average fitness of subordinate males is lower than the average fitness of females, we predict that the probability of producing a son would increase with a male reproductive success as its sons would be more likely to become dominant. We tested this hypothesis on southern elephant seals breeding on the Kerguelen Archipelago. Using 530 pups sired by 52 males, we found that the probability of siring a son increases with a male reproductive success. Out finding provide new insights on sex ratio variation can be an important tool in managing population dynamics and structure, which has direct implications on wildlife conservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offspring sex ratio increases with male reproductive success in the polygynous southern elephant seals

Allegue¹,

Guinet²,

Patrick³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Skewed SRs are observed among many wild animals kept in zoos and they pose a problem in their conservation and motivate the research on parental influences (Faust & Thompson 2000). Acknowledging patterns of SR adjustments could help in managing endangered populations both in the wild and in captivity (Robertson et al 2006, Tanaka et al 2019, Firman et al 2023.…”

Section: Mammal Species Tested In the Offspring Sex Ratio Adjustment ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal influences over offspring sex ratio in mammals – tested hypotheses and potential mechanisms

Pawluk,

Zagalska‐Neubauer

2023

Mammal Review

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The sex ratio of sexually reproducing animal species is usually close to 1:1 and could be influenced by both parents. Deviations from this ratio occur in nature and can have an adaptive role. Although there are several evolutionary hypotheses explaining this bias, there is a significant lack of knowledge of the mechanisms of sex ratio facultative adjustments. While maternal effects are relatively well studied, the paternal effects on the primary sex ratio remain elusive. This review aims to assemble and summarise the knowledge of male control in sex allocation. In particular, we focused on identifying possible mechanisms through which the adjustment could be achieved at pre‐, peri‐ and post‐fertilisation levels. A systematic literature review was performed. We selected 59 articles that provided a potential proximal explanation of observed offspring sex ratio skews for which mammalian males might be responsible. We outlined potential physiological and genetic mechanisms of male‐driven sex allocation operating in male germ cells and zygote stage in mammals. However, most of the proposed hypotheses of how males can bias the offspring sex ratio concern mostly the production of unequal numbers of Y‐ and X‐chromosome‐bearing spermatozoa, and their differences in morphology and physiology. As males possess a wide range of mechanisms to effectively alter the sex ratio of their offspring, they can play a significant role in this phenomenon and should be studied to reduce the gap in our understanding of their role in sex allocation in comparison to the role of females. More empirical studies on different mammalian models are needed to fully characterise the trends of the adjustment. Predicting the sex ratio of the progeny is of great importance, not only in animal husbandry but also for the conservation of endangered species.

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“…Accordingly, paternal age could affect siring quality and, in turn, optimal offspring sex ratios. In support of this idea, younger male aye‐ayes ( Daubentonia madagascariensis ) sire more sons than older males (Tanaka, Fukano, & Nakamura, 2019), and in humans, fathers aged < 25 are more likely to produce sons than fathers aged 25–34 (Khandwala et al., 2018). However, assessed across species paternal age does not generally affect offspring sex ratios (Booksmythe et al., 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Offspring sex ratios are stable across the life course inDrosophila simulans

Archer

Carey

Noda

et al. 2020

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Within populations, adult sex ratios influence population growth and extinction risk, mating behaviours and parental care. Sex ratio adjustment can also have pronounced effects on individual fitness. Accordingly, it is important that we understand how often, and why, offspring sex ratios deviate from parity. In Drosophila melanogaster, females appear to improve their fitness by producing fewer sons when paired with older males. However, facultative sex ratio adjustment in D. melanogaster is controversial, and our understanding of how sex ratio skew affects fitness is hampered by pronounced sexual conflict in this species. Additionally, it is unclear whether maternal age or quality interacts with paternal age to influence offspring sex ratios. Here, we test whether offspring sex ratios vary as a function of maternal quality, and maternal and paternal age in Drosophila simulans, a sister species of D. melanogaster that lacks overt sexual conflict. We find that offspring sex ratios are slightly male‐biased overall, but constant across the female life course, and independent of female quality, or paternal age. To really understand if, how and when females skew offspring sex ratios, we need studies linking offspring sex ratios to paternal and maternal phenotypes that are predicted to shift optimal investment in sons and daughters.

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Effect of paternal age on the birth sex ratio in captive populations of aye‐aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis (Gmelin))

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Offspring sex ratio increases with male reproductive success in the polygynous southern elephant seals

Offspring sex ratio increases with male reproductive success in the polygynous southern elephant seals

Paternal influences over offspring sex ratio in mammals – tested hypotheses and potential mechanisms

Offspring sex ratios are stable across the life course inDrosophila simulans

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