Freedom to choose: unconstrained mate-searching behaviour by female fallow deer (<i>Dama dama</i>)

Naulty, Favel; Harty, Hilda C.; Hayden, James A.

doi:10.25225/fozo.v62.i2.a10.2013

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Therefore, we may have to focus more on the estrous period to improve our understanding of the role of mate choice on female ungulates’ movement. Moreover, we argue that the question “why females stay within a group” [3], addressed also in this study, is as important as the question “where are females going” [1], [4]. Female mating tactics are also highly variable among individuals, being experience- and condition dependent [4].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

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Highly Competitive Reindeer Males Control Female Behavior during the Rut

et al. 2014

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During the rut, female ungulates move among harems or territories, either to sample mates or to avoid harassment. Females may be herded by a male, may stay with a preferred male, or aggregate near a dominant male to avoid harassment from other males. In fission-fusion group dynamics, female movement is best described by the group’s fission probability, instead of inter-harem movement. In this study, we tested whether male herding ability, female mate choice or harassment avoidance influence fission probability. We recorded group dynamics in a herd of reindeer Rangifer tarandus equipped with GPS collars with activity sensors. We found no evidence that the harassment level in the group affected fission probability, or that females sought high rank (i.e. highly competitive and hence successful) males. However, the behavior of high ranked males decreased fission probability. Male herding activity was synchronous with the decrease of fission probability observed during the rut. We concluded that male herding behavior stabilized groups, thereby increasing average group size and consequently the opportunity for sexual selection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Males may increase their mating opportunities by stabilizing their harems [7] , [11] , whereas females may gain indirect benefits by leaving harems to sample mates [3] , [4] , [12] . Females may also move to optimize direct benefits by selecting resource-rich territories [13] or by avoiding harassment [11] , [14] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Competitive Reindeer Males Control Female Behavior during the Rut

et al. 2014

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“…How high aggression rates among males may affect their individual mating success may be related to females leaving areas of high conflict, as previously observed in fallow deer, or to time or energy budget constraints as observed in other species, e.g. California Sea Lions ( Zalophus californianus ), (Apollonio et al, 1989; Gerber et al, 2010; Naulty et al 2013). However, 95% of males in our study did not exceed six fights per day, while only few bucks fought more than 10 fights in a day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Delayed benefits for fallow bucks: more fights decrease same day mating success, but may increase matings the next day

Bateman-Neubert

Briefer

McElligott

2022

Preprint

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Dominance hierarchies help to reduce unnecessary fights and associated costs during the mating season. Fallow deer (Dama dama) typically have high levels of male-male competition and strong reproductive skew. Nevertheless, how male dominance and daily fight rates affect mating success remains unknown. We used a two-year dataset from a large population of tagged fallow deer (620-689 individuals), to calculate male dominance ranks based on their agonistic interactions prior to the mating season (‘prerut’), in order to then examine how rank is related to fight rates and mating success during the mating season (‘rut’). Overall, higher-ranked males fought at least twice a day on a higher proportion of days during the rut and secured more matings. Males engaging in more than 10 fights per day were less likely to secure a mating that same day, and those males exceeding 15 fights per day secured no matings at all. Nevertheless, males with the highest numbers of fights (i.e. 15-21 fights per day) on a given day had higher mating success on subsequent days. Although higher-ranked males secured most matings during the rut, their fight rates decreased towards the end. We propose that engaging in more fights negatively affects daily individual mating success, but may benefit mating success on subsequent days, and potentially increase long-term fitness benefits. Additionally, engaging in more fights as the rut progresses probably allows lower-ranked males to secure some matings before the availability of oestrous females ends for almost a year.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTFighting carries a risk of injury and high energetic costs. Male fallow deer establish dominance hierarchies, that help reduce unnecessary fights among individuals of different competitive abilities. However, whether high-ranked males fight more or less is yet unknown. By calculating social ranks of fallow bucks before the start of their mating period, we show that males of higher social status do fight and mate more during the mating season (rut). Furthermore, by investigating how investment in fights affects individual mating success that same day and the next day, we find that males that fight more cause a decrease in their immediate daily mating success, but can potentially increase their chances of mating in subsequent days. Thus, to fight more may allow males to climb the hierarchical social ladder, hence increasing longer-term fitness benefits associated to higher ranks.

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“…The rate at which fallow bucks groan varies in relation to the number of nearby competing males and estrous females because the presence and composition of surrounding conspecifics affect the arousal and motivation of calling individuals Hayden 1999, 2001;Naulty et al 2013). Male groaning rate is lowest when no other individuals are in the immediate vicinity, but increases when other males are nearby, and again when estrous females are present.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fallow bucks attend to vocal cues of motivation and fatigue

et al. 2014

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Vocalizations encode a range of information about the caller, and variation in calling behavior and vocal structure may provide listeners with information about the motivation and condition of the caller. Fallow bucks only vocalize during the breeding season and can produce more than 3000 groans per hour. Males modulate their calling rates, calling faster when other calling males and/or females are nearby. Groans also reveal caller fatigue, becoming shorter and higher pitched toward the end of the rut. Thus, fallow deer groans vary both over very short (minute to minute) and longer timescales (the rut). However, no studies have investigated how intraindividual acoustic variation in fallow deer groans is perceived and how the information is utilized. Using playback experiments, we examined if fallow bucks can extract information about callers from groans and how groaning rate and fatigue affect the perceived competition posed by a caller. Males became attentive sooner and remained attentive for longer during high-rate playbacks than low-rate playbacks. Furthermore, males were attentive for longer during playback of early rut groans that are indicative of males in better condition. Over short timescales, fallow bucks gain information about the motivation of callers through groaning rates. While over longer timescales, males can detect declines in call quality, corresponding to the loss of condition in callers. Thus, over the course of the rut, fallow bucks can extract honest information from dynamic vocalizations to continually assess the current state of conspecifics.

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Freedom to choose: unconstrained mate-searching behaviour by female fallow deer (Dama dama)

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 6 publications

References 55 publications

Highly Competitive Reindeer Males Control Female Behavior during the Rut

Highly Competitive Reindeer Males Control Female Behavior during the Rut

Delayed benefits for fallow bucks: more fights decrease same day mating success, but may increase matings the next day

Fallow bucks attend to vocal cues of motivation and fatigue

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