| Popis: |
The bongo is one of the least-studied of the Tragelaphini. In a study of five captive bongo calves, two males and three females, we measured several behaviors important to parental investment theory (Clutton-Brock et al., 1982), in order to describe their pattern in a rare species, and add to the database pertaining to sex allocation theory. Variations in individual patterns of maternal investment, such as suckling rate and bout length, were measured and graphed over time, with sex of calf, and age and dominance of dam indicated. Instances of «thief suckling» by calves and juveniles were also described in terms of kinship among the animals involved. Only one measure of maternal investment was biased in favor of males, which had a somewhat higher birth weight than females |
