We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Long-term paternity skew and the opportunity for selection in a mammal with reversed sexual size dimorphism.
- Authors
ROSSITER, STEPHEN J.; RANSOME, ROGER D.; FAULKES, CHRISTOPHER G.; DAWSON, DEBORAH A.; JONES, GARETH
- Abstract
Most mammalian groups are characterized by male-biased sexual size dimorphism, in which size-dependent male–male competition and reproductive skew are tightly linked. By comparison, little is known about the opportunity for sexual selection in mammalian systems without male-biased dimorphism, where the traits under sexual selection might be less obvious. We examined 10 years of parentage data in a colony of greater horseshoe bats ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) to determine the magnitude of male reproductive skew and the opportunity for sexual selection in a mammal in which females are the larger sex. Annual paternity success was weakly skewed but consistent patterns led to strong longitudinal paternity skew among breeders. Just three males accounted for a third of all paternity assignments, representing at least a fifth of all colony offspring born in a decade. Paternity success was in part determined by age but was not influenced by dispersal status. Our results show that paternity skew and the opportunity for sexual selection in a species with reversed sexual size dimorphism can approach levels reported for classical examples of species with polygyny and male-biased dimorphism, even where the traits under sexual selection are not known.
- Subjects
ANIMAL morphology; COLONIZATION (Ecology); DIMORPHISM in animals; ANIMAL paternity; BATS; ANIMAL sexual behavior; ANIMAL genetics; SEX (Biology); DEVELOPMENTAL biology
- Publication
Molecular Ecology, 2006, Vol 15, Issue 10, p3035
- ISSN
0962-1083
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.02987.x