Inter-birth interval in zebras is longer following the birth of male foals than after female foals
| Autor: | Sophie Grange, Andre Ganswindt, Florian Barnier, Hlengisizwe Ncube, Patrick Duncan |
|---|---|
| Přispěvatelé: | Centre d'études biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria [South Africa], Department of Production Animal Studies, Forest Resources and Wildlife Management [Bulawayo], National University of Science and Technology [Bulawayo] |
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Every Six Months Offspring media_common.quotation_subject Population 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Non-invasive hormone monitoring Birth intervals biology.animal 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences 050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology education Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Nature and Landscape Conservation media_common education.field_of_study Inter-birth interval biology Ecology Reproduction 05 social sciences biology.organism_classification Equus Foal [SDE]Environmental Sciences Equus quagga Sex Foaling rate |
| Zdroj: | Acta Oecologica Acta Oecologica, Elsevier, 2012, 42, pp.11-15. ⟨10.1016/j.actao.2011.11.007⟩ |
| ISSN: | 1146-609X |
| Popis: | International audience; Mammalian reproductive rates vary among individuals for physiological and environmental reasons. This study aims to determine reproductive rates from an individually monitored population of wild Plains zebras Equus quagga, and to assess the sources of variability in inter-birth intervals. The animals were monitored, where possible, every six months from 2004 to 2011. Thirty nine intervals corresponding to 65 births in 26 mares were identified, using direct observations and faecal steroid monitoring. Mean foaling rate of the population is 0.74 foal/year, and comparable with the literature. There was no significant effect of mother's age, nor of the season of previous birth on the length of inter-birth intervals. Inter-birth interval was significantly longer when the first foal was a male. This finding indicates that additional costs of having a son may delay future reproduction and thus reduce the total number of offspring a mare can have during her lifetime. Individually-based data provide critical information on the determinants of reproductive rates, and are therefore a key to understanding the causes of variations in life-history traits. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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