Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 2006 |
Authors: | Rossiter, SJ, Ransome, RD, Faulkes, CG, Dawson, DA, Jones, G |
Journal: | Molecular Ecology |
Volume: | 15 |
Pagination: | 3035-3043 |
Date Published: | 2006 |
ISBN Number: | 1365-294X |
Keywords: | Rhinolophus ferrumequinum |
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. |
URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2006.02987.x |
Long-term paternity skew and the opportunity for selection in a mammal with reversed sexual size dimorphism
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