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Monogamy in the bat-eared fox, Otocyon megalotis
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Wright, Harry (2003) Monogamy in the bat-eared fox, Otocyon megalotis. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1746574~S1
Abstract
Mammalian
monogamy
is
puzzling
from
and evolutionary perspective
because it is unclear why males, which
have the potential to father
a great many offspring, should choose to associate with only one
female. This
project investigated the behaviour
of a socially monogamous (pair-living)
population of
bat-eared foxes in
Laikipia, Northern Kenya,
and
had two principal aims. The first
aim was
to identify the selective forces
that
operate to maintain social monogamy
in
the study population.
The
second aim was to determine
whether
bat-eared foxes
mate exclusively with their social partners
(i. e.
if they are genetically as well as socially
monogamous).
Chapter I
summarizes by background
to the
research: Broadly
speaking, theories advanced to explain the
evolution of monogamy
fall into two
categories; those that proposing that monogamy occurs when male
assistance is
required
for
successfW reproduction, and those that proposing that aspects of
female
spatial
and/or temporal distribution
make
it impossible for
even the most competitive males to gain more than one
mate.
Chapter 2 describes
the study site and general methods employed.
Chapter 3
examines whether a requirement for
paternal care maintains social monogamy
by investigating
the
parental roles of males and females: I found that females invest
very
heavily in
reproduction,
feeding
at close
to maximum rate throughout
lactation
and suffering
increased mortality rates
during this period.
Consistent
with previous studies of the species, I found
that males are
heavily involved in the rearing of young,
spending significantly more time than females close to breeding dens, and contributing to all aspects of cub
care.
The importance
of male care was revealed by
the
fact
that, after statistically controlling
for
the
confounding effects of territory
quality, the male den
attendance was significantly associated with cub
survival.
Chapter 4 investigates factors
other than the requirement
for
male care that may prevent males from
achieving polygynous status: Social
monogamy was not enforced
because males were
incapable of
defending
sufficient resources to support more than one
female, as some male territories contained sufficient
food
to
support two or more
females. I found, however, that because females occupied
largely
exclusive ranges and
had
synchronized fertile
periods,
it
was probably
impossible for
even the most competitive males to
successfully defend
more than one
fertile female.
Chapter 5 investigates the
mating
tactics
of
bat-eared foxes by
comparing their
behaviour during
and outside
the
mating season: Neither
male nor
female foxes increased their home range sizes during the mating season,
demonstrating
that they do
not roam widely
in
search of extra-pair mates.
Time-budget
data
suggest that this
may be because bat-eared foxes have little time available to engage in
activities other than
foraging. The
behaviour
of mated partners wass highly
coordinated, particularly
during the mating season, and the
close
proximity of mated partners
did
not reduce their feeding
rate.
Chapter 6
uses DNA
microsatellite analyses to establish the paternity of
bat-eared fox
cubs: We found
that
for the
vast majority of cubs
(42
of
44)
social
fathers were most
likely to be their true fathers. These data
demonstrate a
high level
of genetic monogamy
in the study population.
Chapter 7
summarizes data from
the thesis:
I
conclude that, although male care enhances offspring survival,
there are circumstances under which males may gain
from
polygyny.
Males
are probably unable to attain
polygynous status, however, because the spatial and temporal distribution
of
females, combined with
intense
competition
for
mates makes it impossible for them to defend
more than one mate. Consistent
with
observations of occasional polygynous
breeding from
other
bat-eared fox
populations,
I
conclude that
polygyny could only a viable male strategy
if
compliant
females were willing
to co-ordinated
their behaviour.
I
argue that the high levels
of genetic monogamy observed are probably consequence of the species
insectivorous diet,
which
leaves individuals
with
little time to engage in
activities other than foraging,
and
makes it
easy for
males to guard their own partners.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology Q Science > QL Zoology |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Foxes -- Kenya, Foxes -- Behavior -- Kenya, Evolution (Biology), Courtship in animals , Sexual behavior in animals | ||||
Official Date: | September 2003 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Biological Sciences | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Woodroffe, Rosie ; Courtenay, Orin | ||||
Sponsors: | Natural Environment Research Council (Great Britain) (NERC) | ||||
Extent: | 251 leaves : illustrations | ||||
Language: | eng |
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