Communal Nesting in Antechinus-Stuartii (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae)

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Lazenby-Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Communal Nesting ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Lactating Females ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Time Of Year

Unrelated Antechinus stuartii spend a high proportion of their time in mixed-sex communal nests. Communal nesting starts early in the year, after females have weaned their young. It appears to be driven by the need for social interactions and familiarity between all the individuals in an area. The mixed communal nests persist into the mating season, when males and females often visit more than one communal nest each day. During the mating season, males spend no more than 8 hours in a communal nest, and travel extensively between communal nests, perhaps in an effort to improve their reproductive success. Lactating females nest solitarily. To meet the needs of their litter, they increase the number of foraging trips they undertake, but do not reduce the total amount of time spent within the nest at this energetically expensive time of year.

Behaviuoral changes associated with the population cycle of Antechinus stuartii (Marsupialia)

1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
RW Braithwaite
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Testing ◽  
Stepwise Multiple Regression ◽  
Population Cycle ◽  
Physical Deterioration ◽  
Observation Cage ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Time Of Year ◽  
General Appearance

The behaviour of field populations of A. stuartii was monitored in relation to their demography by diad testing. Marked and unmarked pairs were tested in a field observation cage. Two measures of activity and the frequency of 10 behaviour categories were recorded for each test. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed the sex of the animal and time of year to be the best predictors of aggression parameters. The frequencies of behaviour categories suggest that males and females behave quite differently. Males show a trend of increasing aggressiveness over the annual cycle whereas females do not. Repeated laboratory testing of males in 'mating condition' exacerbates aggression as their weight and general appearance deteriorate. It is suggested that the externally synchronized life cycle programs the aggression increase, and this causes physical deterioration, rather than the reverse.

scholarly journals Sexual Interference Behaviors in Male Adult and Subadult Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana)

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 663
Author(s):  
Kui-Hai Pang ◽  
Amanda K. Rowe ◽  
Lori K. Sheeran ◽  
Dong-Po Xia ◽  
Lixing Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Nonhuman Primate ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Mating Season ◽  
Macaca Thibetana ◽  
Subadult Male ◽  
Sexual Competition ◽  
Male Adult ◽  
Sexual Interference ◽  
The Individual

Male nonhuman primate sexual interference, which includes copulation interruption and copulation harassment, has been related to reproductive success, but its significance has been challenging to test. Copulation interruption results in the termination of a copulation before ejaculation, whereas copulation harassment does not. We conducted this study using the all-occurrence behavior sampling method on sexual interference behaviors of seven adult and four subadult male Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in mating and non-mating seasons at Mt. Huangshan, China, from August 2016 to May 2017. Our results showed that males’ individual proportion of copulation interruption and harassment was higher during the mating season than during the non-mating season. In addition, dominant males more often performed interruption, whereas subordinate males more often performed harassment. We found no difference in the individual proportion of copulation interruption or harassment between adult and subadult males. Adult and subadult males both directed copulation interruption and harassment more often toward the mating male than toward the mating female. Lastly, the post-ejaculation phase of copulation was shorter when copulation harassment occurred than when it did not. Our results suggest that sexual interference may be an important mating tactic that adult and subadult males use in male–male sexual competition.

POLYGYNY, REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS AND CHILD HEALTH IN RURAL ETHIOPIA: WHY MARRY A MARRIED MAN?

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
MHAIRI A. GIBSON ◽  
RUTH MACE
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Family Status ◽  
Rural Ethiopia ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Married Individuals ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Child Nutritional Status ◽  
And Child Health ◽  
Better Than

Summary.This study examines the reproductive success of men and women in rural Ethiopia as a function of their marital status, specifically by comparing polygamously and monogamously married individuals. In line with predictions from evolutionary theory, polygamy is beneficial to male reproductive success (i.e. producing larger numbers of surviving offspring). The success of polygamously married females depends on wife rank: the first wives of polygamous husbands do better than monogamously married women and much better than second or third wives. These effects are mirrored in child nutritional status: the children of second and third wives have lower weight for height. Due to potential, largely unmeasurable differences in marriageability (quality) between individuals, it was not possible to support a model of either resource-holding polygyny combined with female choice or female coercion into unwanted marriages. First wives of polygamously married men marry at a younger age and attract a higher brideprice, suggesting that both the males and females in the marriage are likely to be of higher quality (due to wealth, family status or some other factor such as beauty). Unions that end up monogamous are likely to be between slightly lower quality individuals; and second and third wives, who marry at the oldest ages and attract the lowest brideprice, may be ‘making the best of a bad job’. The relatively long gap between first and second marriages may mean that first wives of highly marriageable males can enjoy considerable reproductive success before their husbands marry again.

scholarly journals Safe sex: male–female coalitions and pre-copulatory mate-guarding in a fiddler crab

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard N. C. Milner ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Patricia R. Y. Backwell
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Fiddler Crab ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Boundary Maintenance ◽  
Uca Annulipes ◽  
Males And Females

In fiddler crabs both males and females defend territories that are essential for survival. Given pronounced sexual dimorphism in weaponry, how do weaponless females defend their territory from well-armed males? Using observational data and two simple experiments, we test whether male Uca annulipes protect their female neighbours from conspecific intruders. We show that males defend their female neighbours against male but not female intruders. We also show that females sometimes mate with their immediate neighbours. Male defence of female neighbours appears to represent both pre-copulatory mate-guarding and a territorial coalition. Males who ensure that their neighbour remains female could benefit through increased opportunity for future reproductive success and lower boundary maintenance costs.

Variation in reproductive success of male and female Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus)

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 736-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip H. Jones ◽  
Jeffrey L. Van Zant ◽  
F. Stephen Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Multiple Paternity ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Bateman Gradient ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Columbian Ground Squirrels

The imbalanced reproductive success of polygynous mammals results in sexual selection on male traits like body size. Males and females might have more balanced reproductive success under polygynandry, where both sexes mate multiply. Using 4 years of microsatellite DNA analyses of paternity and known maternity, we investigated variation in reproductive success of Columbian ground squirrels, Urocitellus columbianus (Ord, 1815); a species with multiple mating by both sexes and multiple paternity of litters. We asked whether male reproductive success was more variable than that of females under this mating system. The overall percentage of confirmed paternity was 61.4% of 339 offspring. The mean rate of multiple paternity in litters with known fathers was 72.4% (n = 29 litters). Estimated mean reproductive success of males (10.27 offspring) was about thrice that of females (3.11 offspring). Even after this difference was taken into account statistically, males were about three times as variable in reproductive success as females (coefficients of variation = 77.84% and 26.74%, respectively). The Bateman gradient (regression slope of offspring production on number of successful mates) was significantly greater for males (βM = 1.44) than females (βF = 0.28). Thus, under a polygynandrous mating system, males exhibited greater variation in reproductive success than females.

scholarly journals Serial monogamy benefits both sexes in the biparental convict cichlid

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Snekser ◽  
Murray Itzkowitz
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Convict Cichlid ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Serial Monogamy ◽  
Convict Cichlids ◽  
Amatitlania Nigrofasciata ◽  
Males And Females

Monogamy can be either long-term or serial, with new pairs formed with each breeding bout. Costs and benefits are associated with each strategy. Because biparental convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) typically switch mates, exhibiting serial monogamy, we tested for the costs associated with forcing individuals to remain with the same mate. Convict cichlids were observed over two successive breeding bouts, either with the same or a new, equally experienced, mate. Parental behavior did not differ between breeding bouts, nor did brood size. Surprisingly, fish that remained with their original partner for a second bout took significantly longer to produce a brood compared to fish that paired with new partners. New partners were also more likely to successfully produce a second brood than re-mated partners. This is in contrast to the majority of bird studies that show many benefits to staying with the same partner for multiple broods. In convict cichlids, there seems to be no benefit associated with remaining with the same partner and switching mates reduces duration between broods for both males and females, potentially increasing overall reproductive success.

Instability of Harems of Feral Horses in Relation To Season and Presence of Subordinate Stallions

Behaviour ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 149-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Franke Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Island Population ◽  
Single Male ◽  
Seasonal Differences ◽  
Feral Horses ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Abundance And Distribution

AbstractMale horses (Equus caballus) defend harems of females (bands) year-round and throughout their lifetimes. A male's lifetime reproductive success depends upon the number of females in his harem. Although harems have previously been reported as remaining stable over many years, during the two years of this study 30 % of the adult females in an island population of feral horses changed harems during late winter. The seasonal differences in harem stability resulted from seasonal differences in the abundance and distribution of food. The spacing between band members was greater and the frequency of social interactions between them was lower in winter than in summer. In addition, the amount of time devoted to grazing increased in winter. These differences are attributed to the lower availability of suitable vegetation duirng winter. Harem stability did not depend on the age of females, the size of the harem, nor the age of the harem stallion, but did depend on the presence of subordinate stallions attached to the band. All of the females that changed bands left single-male bands; multi-male bands were stable throughout the study.

scholarly journals First evidence of gregarious denning in opossums (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae), with notes on their social behaviour

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 20150307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Astúa ◽  
Rafael A. Carvalho ◽  
Paula F. Maia ◽  
Arthur R. Magalhães ◽  
Diogo Loretto
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Pair Bonding ◽  
Agonistic Interactions ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Artificial Nests ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Didelphis Aurita ◽  
Nest Sharing ◽  
Didelphis Albiventris

The Didelphidae are considered solitary opossums with few social interactions, usually limited to mating-related or mother–pouch young interactions. Anecdotal reports suggest that additional interactions occur, including den sharing by a few individuals, usually siblings. Here, we report novel observations that indicate opossums are more social than previously thought. These include nest sharing by males and females of Marmosa paraguayana , Gracilinanus microtarsus and Marmosops incanus prior to the onset of the breeding season and without signs of sexual activity; this is taken to indicate early pair-bonding matching and cooperative nest building. We also recorded den sharing among recently weaned siblings of Didelphis aurita and Caluromys philander . In addition, we observed 13 individuals of Didelphis albiventris representing three age classes resting without agonistic interactions in a communal den. These are the first reports of gregarious behaviour involving so many individuals, which are either unrelated or represent siblings from at least two litters, already weaned, sharing the same den with three adults. Sociality in opossums is probably more complex than previously established, and field experimental designs combining the use of artificial nests with camera traps or telemetry may help to gauge the frequency and extent of these phenomena.

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