| Autor: |
Edward O. Price, Reid Borgwardt, Martin R. Dally |
| Rok vydání: |
2001 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 74:217-222 |
| ISSN: |
0168-1591 |
| DOI: |
10.1016/s0168-1591(01)00165-4 |
| Popis: |
Male domestic sheep are non-territorial and mate in multiple-male mating groups in which males compete for access to females. The following study tests whether rams are sexually stimulated by participation in or observation of male–male competition for estrous ewes and if so, whether the response is affected by the sexual performance level of rams. Twenty-eight sexually-experienced yearling rams were given individual 30 min sexual performance tests immediately after 15 min of (1) direct competition (DC) with other rams for 10 estrous ewes whose perinea had been covered to prevent intromissions, (2) observing rams competing for estrous females (OC), (3) observing other rams without females (OR) and (4) observing an empty pen (EP). The DC and OC treatments did not enhance sexual performance relative to the control treatments. Instead, the DC treatment resulted in a reduced rate of ejaculation, possibly because of the physical exertion of repeatedly mounting females and accompanying male–male agonistic interactions. In addition, some rams may have become sexually inhibited because of the inability to attain intromissions in the DC treatment. High- and low-performing rams did not differ in their response to the four treatments. Frequencies of mounts without ejaculation and mounts per ejaculation were not influenced by treatment or sexual performance level. It was concluded that observing rams engaged in competition for estrous females does not improve sexual performance and that sexual performance is reduced following direct competition for females. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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Full Text from ScienceDirect