Courtship Disruptions and Male Mating Strategies: Examples from Female‐Defense Mating Systems

1999 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 717-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Webster ◽  
Scott K. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Mating Systems ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Strategies

scholarly journals Introduction to “Reproduction: The Female Perspective from an Integrative and Comparative Framework”

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 676-682
Author(s):  
Virginia Hayssen ◽  
Teri J Orr
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Strategies ◽  
Female Performance ◽  
Extra Weight ◽  
Female Scientists ◽  
Female Perspective

Synopsis This compendium is from a symposium about reproductive biology from the female perspective, but what do we mean by the female perspective? Most obviously, since all of our speakers, and most of our contributors, are female, one meaning is that the female perspective is the view of female scientists. Our diverse contributors are from a spectrum of academic ranks (post-docs to chaired professors) and study a range of animal taxa from insects to mammals. More importantly, we want to examine reproductive biology from the perspective of female organisms themselves. What happens when we examine social behavior, physiology, or ecology strictly from the viewpoint of females? In many cases, the female-centric perspective will alter our prior interpretations. For example, with deoxyribonucleic acid fingerprinting, differences between genetic and behavioral mating-systems became obvious. The scientific community came to realize that assessing parentage is the definitive way to categorize mating systems since using male-mating strategies resulted in flawed conclusions; in fact, the female selection of which sperm is involved in conception is more important in determining parentage than mating events per se. Perhaps parentage systems rather than mating systems would be more appropriate. This difference in interpretation relative to methodology exemplifies how behavioral ecology might change if we examine systems from the female perspective; similar changes may occur for other fields. Another example comes from studies of whole-organism performance. Here, jumping, running, and swimming have been measured in males, usually with the deliberate removal of females and the major facet of female physiology, that is, reproduction. However, female biology may actually set the limits of performance given the need to carry extra weight and the extensive changes in body shape required for reproduction. Female performance is a valuable area for research. In fact, novel insights into metabolic ceilings arose from examining energetics, including metabolic rates, during lactation. In the symposium and the associated papers, our contributors explored the various ways in which a female-focused framework shifts our research conclusions and programs. As a way forward, we also include a table of sex-neutral terminology to replace terms that are currently androcentric or value-laden.

scholarly journals Paternity in wild ring‐tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta ): Implications for male mating strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (12) ◽  
pp. 1316-1325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce A. Parga ◽  
Michelle L. Sauther ◽  
Frank P. Cuozzo ◽  
Ibrahim Antho Youssouf Jacky ◽  
Richard R. Lawler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lemur Catta ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Mating Strategies

Interplay of male traits, male mating strategies and female mate choice in the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus

Behaviour ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 152 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1113-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karpagam Chelliah ◽  
Raman Sukumar
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Asian Elephant ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Male Mating Strategies

Elaborate male traits with no apparent adaptive value may have evolved through female mate discrimination. Tusks are an elaborate male-only trait in the Asian elephant that could potentially influence female mate choice. We examined the effect of male body size, tusk possession and musth status on female mate choice in an Asian elephant population. Large/musth males received positive responses from oestrous females towards courtship significantly more often than did small/non-musth males. Young, tusked non-musth males attempted courtship significantly more often than their tuskless peers, and received more positive responses (though statistically insignificant) than did tuskless males. A positive response did not necessarily translate into mating because of mate-guarding by a dominant male. Female elephants appear to choose mates based primarily on traits such as musth that signal direct fertility benefits through increased sperm received than for traits such as tusks that may signal only indirect fitness benefits.

scholarly journals Correlates of Male Mating Strategies in White Rhinos (Ceratotherium simum)

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1317-1324 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Rachlow ◽  
E. V. Berkeley ◽  
J. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Ceratotherium Simum ◽  
Male Mating Strategies

Resources, not male mating strategies, are a determinant of social structure in Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni)

Behaviour ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 144 (11) ◽  
pp. 1361-1382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Home Range ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Mating Strategies ◽  
Prairie Dogs ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Cynomys Gunnisoni ◽  
Male Mating Strategies ◽  
Gunnison's Prairie Dogs

AbstractPrevious studies of Gunnison's prairie dogs, Cynomys gunnisoni, have reached different conclusions about the factors influencing sociality in this species. In this study I tested whether Gunnison's prairie dog social structure was resource-based or whether male mating strategies drive the organizational patterns observed. Group size, where the term group refers to individuals occupying the same territory, was predicted by territory size and density of food available. The spatial overlap of adults within territories was positively correlated with spatial patchiness of food resources. All group members participated in territory defense, although adult males engaged in significantly more intergroup aggressive interactions. There was no significant difference in adult male and female home range size. The number of female home ranges that any given male home range overlapped was not correlated with male body mass, male home range size, or territory size. Contrary to predictions of typical mammalian male mating strategies, adult females ranged significantly further than males during the mating period. Body mass of males and nonreproductive females was similar, whereas that of reproductive females was smaller. In addition, males and females did not differ in size, based on skull length and skull width. Results from this study strongly suggest that patterns of space use and social structure in Gunnison's prairie dogs are the result of individual responses to resource abundance and distribution and are not due to male mating strategies, such as resource defense or female defense polygyny.

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