How attractive is the girl next door? An assessment of spatial mate acquisition and paternity in the solitary Cape Dune mole-rat, Bathyergus suillus

dc.contributor.authorBray, Timothy C.
dc.contributor.authorBloomer, Paulette
dc.contributor.authorO'Riain, M. Justin
dc.contributor.authorBennett, Nigel Charles
dc.contributor.editorLaudet, Vincent
dc.contributor.emailtim_c_bray@zoology.up.ac.zaen
dc.date.accessioned2012-08-28T06:11:11Z
dc.date.available2012-08-28T06:11:11Z
dc.date.issued2012-06-29
dc.description.abstractBehavioural observations of reproduction and mate choice in wild fossorial rodents are extremely limited and consequently indirect methods are typically used to infer mating strategies. We use a combination of morphological, reproductive, spatial, and genetic data to investigate the reproductive strategy of a solitary endemic species, the Cape dune mole-rat Bathyergus suillus. These data provide the first account on the population dynamics of this species. Marked sexual dimorphism was apparent with males being both significantly larger and heavier than females. Of all females sampled 36% had previously reproduced and 12% were pregnant at the time of capture. Post-partum sex ratio was found to be significantly skewed in favour of females. The paternity of fifteen litters (n = 37) was calculated, with sires assigned to progeny using both categorical and full probability methods, and including a distance function. The maximum distance between progeny and a putative sire was determined as 2149 m with males moving between sub-populations. We suggest that above-ground movement should not be ignored in the consideration of mate acquisition behaviour of subterranean mammals. Estimated levels of multiple paternity were shown to be potentially as high as 26%, as determined using sibship and sire assignment methods. Such high levels of multiple paternity have not been found in other solitary mole-rat species. The data therefore suggest polyandry with no evidence as yet for polygyny.en
dc.description.librarianab2012en
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation for funding from the South African Research Chairs Initiative Chair for Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology awarded to NB. Funding was also provided by the University of Pretoria in provision of TB’s postdoctoral fellowship.en
dc.description.urihttp://www.plosone.orgen
dc.identifier.citationBray TC, Bloomer P, O’Riain MJ, Bennett NC (2012) How Attractive Is the Girl Next Door? An Assessment of Spatial Mate Acquisition and Paternity in the Solitary Cape Dune Mole-Rat, Bathyergus suillus. PLoS ONE 7(6): e39866. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039866en
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/19648
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen
dc.rights© 2012 Bray et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen
dc.subjectMate choiceen
dc.subjectCape dune mole-raten
dc.subjectBathyergus suillusen
dc.subject.lcshBathyergidae -- Reproductionen
dc.subject.lcshCourtship in animalsen
dc.subject.lcshSexual behavior in animalsen
dc.subject.otherSDG-15: Life on land
dc.titleHow attractive is the girl next door? An assessment of spatial mate acquisition and paternity in the solitary Cape Dune mole-rat, Bathyergus suillusen
dc.typeArticleen

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