Do female rodents use promiscuity to prevent male infanticide?
作者:
Luis A. Ebensperger,
期刊:
Ethology Ecology & Evolution
(Taylor Available online 1998)
卷期:
Volume 10,
issue 2
页码: 129-141
ISSN:0394-9370
年代: 1998
DOI:10.1080/08927014.1998.9522862
出版商: Taylor & Francis Group
关键词: Promiscuity;infanticide;Microtus;Mus
数据来源: Taylor
摘要:
It has been hypothesized that females could use promiscuity to prevent male infanticide: a female will mate with several males as a way to confuse paternity of her offspring, so the males will tolerate these infants that might be their own. If so, and all other things being equal, a female should prefer an infanticidal over a noninfanticidal male as a mating partner. To test this prediction, I examined the social preferences of female meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and house mice (Mus musculus) toward infanticidal and noninfanticidal conspecific males. In each trial, a female was allowed to visit two compartments containing either an infanticidal or a noninfanticidal male. Females of both species visited both kinds of males with the same frequency. Similarly, females of both species spent a similar amount of time inspecting the compartments of the infanticidal and the noninfanticidal male. The frequencies of other female behaviors such as self-grooming, scent marking, or aggression, were also similar. These results provide no support for the hypothesis that female promiscuity is a female strategy to prevent male infanticide in house mice or meadow voles.
点击下载:
PDF (75KB)
返 回