Why breed early? A study of reproductive tactics in Peromyscus

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 862-871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daphne J. Fairbairn
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Frequent Occurrence ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Bimodal Pattern ◽  
Early Peak ◽  
Males And Females

Female deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) near Vancouver, British Columbia, were found to have a bimodal pattern of breeding. This paper compares the success of females that attempted to breed in the early peak of breeding with that of females that did not breed until the later breeding peak. While the average success was about the same for the two tactics, early breeding had a much higher variance. It is suggested that this difference in variances would result in eventual elimination of the early-breeding phenotype, unless it were favored by other factors. Differences in the selection pressures on males and females, and the relatively frequent occurrence of years of good reproductive success for early-breeding females, may contribute to the maintenance of this phenotype in the population. A hypothesis is presented to explain both the bimodality of the breeding pattern, and the dominance of the second breeding peak.

Comparative demography of Peromyscus maniculatus and Microtus oregoni populations after logging and burning of coastal forest habitats

1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2252-2259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Demographic Parameters ◽  
Coastal Forest ◽  
Comparative Demography ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Demographic Attributes ◽  
Forest Habitats ◽  
Better Than

This study was designed to investigate the abundance and related demographic attributes of Peromyscus maniculatus and Microtus oregoni populations in successional burned and unburned cutover areas. These populations were livetrapped in three habitats at Maple Ridge, British Columbia, from March to October 1978. The average densities of deer mice and Oregon voles per hectare on the burned area were 27.6 and 11.6, and on two unburned areas were 19.1 and 16.0, and 21.9 and 10.4, respectively. There was little variation in the proportion of breeding animals among habitats for either species. Male deer mice survived better on the burned area than in either of the other two habitats; there was little variation in survival among females. Males and females of M. oregoni survived equally well. Deer mice generally had greater proportions of reproductive animals and survived better than Oregon voles on all study areas. However, juvenile voles had 1.7 times higher survival than young deer mice. Demographic parameters within populations of P. maniculatus and M. oregoni tend to be similar in successional burned and unburned habitats 4–5 years after logging.

Chromosomal variation and differentiation among insular populations of Peromyscus from the Pacific Northwest

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (12) ◽  
pp. 2726-2733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Gunn
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Chromosomal Variation ◽  
Fundamental Number ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Chromosomal Banding ◽  
Insular Populations

Karyotypic data from 561 deer mice (Peromyscus spp.) from populations on islands off British Columbia and Washington indicate the presence of two distinct karyotypic groups, a low fundamental number (FN) group (FN = 74–78) and a high FN group (FN = 85–92). The absence of karyotypic intermediates at nine localities of sympatry is interpreted as demonstrating that the two FN groups represent distinct species. Based on data from comparable mainland forms, the low FN form is considered to represent Peromyscus maniculatus and the high FN form is suggested to be conspecific with Peromyscus areas. Chromosomal banding data indicate extensive chromosomal variation within each of these species and provide discrete karyotypic characters unique to each species. The inclusion of the high FN insular forms with P. oreas does not affect the chromosomally determined cladistic placement of P. oreas as a laxon derived from P. maniculatus.

Comparative arboreal behaviors of wild-caught and captive-born deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner, from Isle Haute and mainland Nova Scotia

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 789-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Pulsifer ◽  
T. B. Herman
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Choice Experiment ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Laboratory Observation ◽  
Climbing Behavior ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Males And Females

Locomotor, climbing, and nesting behaviors of wild-caught and captive-born deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner) from mainland Nova Scotia and from an isolated predator- and competitor-free island were compared in a laboratory observation room. Locomotor activity did not differ consistently between populations, but wall-seeking was significantly greater in mainland mice. When exposed to an artificial tree, insular mice made more climbs than mainland mice, but mainland mice climbed for longer periods. Climbing behavior differed little between males and females in any group. In a choice experiment, mainland mice selected elevated nest sites significantly more often than ground-level nest sites, while insular mice exhibited no preference.

scholarly journals Dehydrogenase-dependent Ethanol Metabolism in Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) Lacking Cytosolic Alcohol Dehydrogenase

1989 ◽  
Vol 264 (10) ◽  
pp. 5593-5597
Author(s):  
C Norsten ◽  
T Cronholm ◽  
G Ekström ◽  
J A Handler ◽  
R G Thurman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Dehydrogenase ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Ethanol Metabolism ◽  
Deer Mice

POLYGYNY, REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS AND CHILD HEALTH IN RURAL ETHIOPIA: WHY MARRY A MARRIED MAN?

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
MHAIRI A. GIBSON ◽  
RUTH MACE
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Family Status ◽  
Rural Ethiopia ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Married Individuals ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Child Nutritional Status ◽  
And Child Health ◽  
Better Than

Summary.This study examines the reproductive success of men and women in rural Ethiopia as a function of their marital status, specifically by comparing polygamously and monogamously married individuals. In line with predictions from evolutionary theory, polygamy is beneficial to male reproductive success (i.e. producing larger numbers of surviving offspring). The success of polygamously married females depends on wife rank: the first wives of polygamous husbands do better than monogamously married women and much better than second or third wives. These effects are mirrored in child nutritional status: the children of second and third wives have lower weight for height. Due to potential, largely unmeasurable differences in marriageability (quality) between individuals, it was not possible to support a model of either resource-holding polygyny combined with female choice or female coercion into unwanted marriages. First wives of polygamously married men marry at a younger age and attract a higher brideprice, suggesting that both the males and females in the marriage are likely to be of higher quality (due to wealth, family status or some other factor such as beauty). Unions that end up monogamous are likely to be between slightly lower quality individuals; and second and third wives, who marry at the oldest ages and attract the lowest brideprice, may be ‘making the best of a bad job’. The relatively long gap between first and second marriages may mean that first wives of highly marriageable males can enjoy considerable reproductive success before their husbands marry again.

scholarly journals Safe sex: male–female coalitions and pre-copulatory mate-guarding in a fiddler crab

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard N. C. Milner ◽  
Michael D. Jennions ◽  
Patricia R. Y. Backwell
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Observational Data ◽  
Fiddler Crab ◽  
Lower Boundary ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Boundary Maintenance ◽  
Uca Annulipes ◽  
Males And Females

In fiddler crabs both males and females defend territories that are essential for survival. Given pronounced sexual dimorphism in weaponry, how do weaponless females defend their territory from well-armed males? Using observational data and two simple experiments, we test whether male Uca annulipes protect their female neighbours from conspecific intruders. We show that males defend their female neighbours against male but not female intruders. We also show that females sometimes mate with their immediate neighbours. Male defence of female neighbours appears to represent both pre-copulatory mate-guarding and a territorial coalition. Males who ensure that their neighbour remains female could benefit through increased opportunity for future reproductive success and lower boundary maintenance costs.

Genetic Evidence for a Hantavirus Enzootic in Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) Captured a Decade before the Recognition of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Virology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 204 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivek R. Nerurkar ◽  
Jin-Won Song ◽  
Ki-Joon Song ◽  
James W. Nagle ◽  
Brian Hjelle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Genetic Evidence ◽  
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome ◽  
Deer Mice

Variation in reproductive success of male and female Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus)

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 736-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip H. Jones ◽  
Jeffrey L. Van Zant ◽  
F. Stephen Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Multiple Paternity ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Bateman Gradient ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Columbian Ground Squirrels

The imbalanced reproductive success of polygynous mammals results in sexual selection on male traits like body size. Males and females might have more balanced reproductive success under polygynandry, where both sexes mate multiply. Using 4 years of microsatellite DNA analyses of paternity and known maternity, we investigated variation in reproductive success of Columbian ground squirrels, Urocitellus columbianus (Ord, 1815); a species with multiple mating by both sexes and multiple paternity of litters. We asked whether male reproductive success was more variable than that of females under this mating system. The overall percentage of confirmed paternity was 61.4% of 339 offspring. The mean rate of multiple paternity in litters with known fathers was 72.4% (n = 29 litters). Estimated mean reproductive success of males (10.27 offspring) was about thrice that of females (3.11 offspring). Even after this difference was taken into account statistically, males were about three times as variable in reproductive success as females (coefficients of variation = 77.84% and 26.74%, respectively). The Bateman gradient (regression slope of offspring production on number of successful mates) was significantly greater for males (βM = 1.44) than females (βF = 0.28). Thus, under a polygynandrous mating system, males exhibited greater variation in reproductive success than females.

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