Male Mating Success in the Mountain Dusky Salamander, Desmognathus ochrophaeus: Are Small, Young, Inexperienced Males at a Disadvantage?
| Autor: | Paul A. Verrell |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2010 |
| Předmět: |
biology
Ecology media_common.quotation_subject Desmognathus ochrophaeus Context (language use) Dusky salamander biology.organism_classification Courtship Mate choice Animal Science and Zoology Reproduction Mating Sperm competition reproductive and urinary physiology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Demography media_common |
| Zdroj: | Ethology. 88:277-286 |
| ISSN: | 1439-0310 0179-1613 |
| Popis: | Young, small, sexually-inexperienced males suffer lower mating success than older, larger, more experienced males in many species of animals. I compared the mating success of male Desmognathus ochrophaeus (Amphibia: Caudata: Plethodontidae) reared to maturity in the laboratory with that of males collected as adults in the field. Courtship trials were staged in the laboratory between single males and females. Laboratory-reared males were significantly smaller in body size than adult males collected in the field, were certainly inexperienced sexually and were probably younger. No difference was found between laboratory-reared males and field-collected males in any measure of mating success, although the former apparently produced smaller sperm masses. I conclude that newly-mature male D. ochrophaeus are not discriminated against by females in the context of mate choice, and do not need to “rehearse” courtship in order to obtain successful inseminations. However, newly-mature males are probably at a disadvantage in terms of aggressive and sperm competition with larger males. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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