Reproductive effort of male northern elephant seals: estimates from mass loss

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2580-2593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Deutsch ◽  
Michael P. Haley ◽  
Burney J. Le Boeuf
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Northern Elephant Seals

The energetic component of reproductive effort of male northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, was estimated from mass loss over the breeding season and correlated with dominance rank and age. Fifty-four unrestrained bulls were weighed on a platform scale by luring them with a model of a female seal or moving them with a tarpaulin and using playback of male aggressive vocalizations. Adult males weighed up to 2300 kg upon arrival at the breeding rookery. Mean rate of mass loss during the breeding season was 7.1 ± 1.5 (SD) and 4.6 ± 0.8 kg per day for 17 adults and 13 subadults, respectively. Rate of mass loss was positively correlated with body size (mass or length) for both age-classes. Mass-specific rate of mass loss did not differ between age-classes but increased with increasing dominance rank among adult males. Reproductive effort, expressed as percentage of body mass lost over the 3-month breeding season, was greater for high-ranking bulls (mean 41.4%) than for low-ranking adults (33.8%), but was not related to age-class or body size. High-ranking males experienced higher mating success and expended more energy than subordinate males. Comparison with a previous study on conspecific females indicates that mass-specific energetic investment in reproduction is similar for both sexes, despite marked sex differences in reproductive strategy and duration of effort.

Ten. Sex- and age-related variation in reproductive effort of northern elephant seals

1994 ◽  
pp. 169-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Deutsch ◽  
Daniel E. Crocker ◽  
Daniel P. Costa ◽  
Burney J. Le Boeuf
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Related Variation ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Northern Elephant Seals

scholarly journals MATERNAL TRAITS AND REPRODUCTIVE EFFORT IN NORTHERN ELEPHANT SEALS

Ecology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (12) ◽  
pp. 3541-3555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Crocker ◽  
Jeannine D. Williams ◽  
Daniel P. Costa ◽  
Burney J. Le Boeuf
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Northern Elephant Seals

scholarly journals Flexible timing of reproductive effort as an alternative mating tactic in black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) males

Behaviour ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 153 (8) ◽  
pp. 927-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Nieminen ◽  
M. Kervinen ◽  
C. Lebigre ◽  
C.D. Soulsbury
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Black Grouse ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Costs Of Reproduction ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Alternative Mating Tactic ◽  
Behavioural Phenotypes

Alternative reproductive tactics often take the form of dichotomous behavioural phenotypes. Focusing attention on such obvious dichotomy means that flexible patterns of behaviour within tactics is largely ignored. Using a long-term dataset of black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) lek behaviours, we tested whether there were fine-scale differences in reproductive effort (lek attendance, fighting rates) and whether these were related to age and phenotype. Yearling males increased their lek attendance and fighting rate to a peak when adult male effort was declining. Adults and yearlings allocated reproductive effort according to their body mass but this was unrelated to differences in timing of effort. In adult males, different patterns of lek attendance were associated with different costs of reproduction, measured by mass loss or gain. Overall, our work demonstrates that individuals can use flexible patterns of reproductive effort both in terms of their own condition, their age and the likely costs of behaviours.

scholarly journals Respiration and heart rate at the surface between dives in northern elephant seals

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (21) ◽  
pp. 3265-3274 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.J. Le Boeuf ◽  
D.E. Crocker ◽  
J. Grayson ◽  
J. Gedamke ◽  
P.M. Webb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Mirounga Angustirostris ◽  
Digital Audio ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Diving Depth ◽  
Surface Time ◽  
Northern Elephant Seals ◽  
Audio Tape Recorder ◽  
Free Ranging

All underwater activities of diving mammals are constrained by the need for surface gas exchange. Our aim was to measure respiratory rate (fb) and heart rate (fh) at the surface between dives in free-ranging northern elephant seals Mirounga angustirostris. We recorded fb and fh acoustically in six translocated juveniles, 1.8-2. 4 years old, and three migrating adult males from the rookery at Ano Nuevo, California, USA. To each seal, we attached a diving instrument to record the diving pattern, a satellite tag to track movements and location, a digital audio tape recorder or acoustic datalogger with an external hydrophone to record the sounds of respiration and fh at the surface, and a VHF transmitter to facilitate recovery. During surface intervals averaging 2.2+/−0.4 min, adult males breathed a mean of 32.7+/−5.4 times at a rate of 15. 3+/−1.8 breaths min(−)(1) (means +/− s.d., N=57). Mean fh at the surface was 84+/−3 beats min(−)(1). The fb of juveniles was 26 % faster than that of adult males, averaging 19.2+/−2.2 breaths min(−)(1) for a mean total of 41.2+/−5.0 breaths during surface intervals lasting 2.6+/−0.31 min. Mean fh at the surface was 106+/−3 beats min(−)(1). fb and fh did not change significantly over the course of surface intervals. Surface fb and fh were not clearly associated with levels of exertion, such as rapid horizontal transit or apparent foraging, or with measures of immediately previous or subsequent diving performance, such as diving duration, diving depth or swimming speed. Together, surface respiration rate and the duration of the preceding dive were significant predictors of surface interval duration. This implies that elephant seals minimize surface time spent loading oxygen depending on rates of oxygen uptake and previous depletion of stores.

Vocal signaling among male northern elephant seals: Behavioral field studies of honesty vs. associative learning

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Reichmuth ◽  
Caroline Casey ◽  
Isabelle Charrier ◽  
Nicolas Mathevon ◽  
Brandon Southall
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Elephant Seals ◽  
Northern Elephant Seals ◽  
Vocal Signaling

scholarly journals Chest beats as an honest signal of body size in male mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei)

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Wright ◽  
Sven Grawunder ◽  
Eric Ndayishimiye ◽  
Jordi Galbany ◽  
Shannon C. McFarlin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Sexual Competition ◽  
Mountain Gorillas ◽  
Temporal Characteristics ◽  
Gorilla Beringei Beringei ◽  
Vocal Signals

AbstractAcoustic signals that reliably indicate body size, which usually determines competitive ability, are of particular interest for understanding how animals assess rivals and choose mates. Whereas body size tends to be negatively associated with formant dispersion in animal vocalizations, non-vocal signals have received little attention. Among the most emblematic sounds in the animal kingdom is the chest beat of gorillas, a non-vocal signal that is thought to be important in intra and inter-sexual competition, yet it is unclear whether it reliably indicates body size. We examined the relationship among body size (back breadth), peak frequency, and three temporal characteristics of the chest beat: duration, number of beats and beat rate from sound recordings of wild adult male mountain gorillas. Using linear mixed models, we found that larger males had significantly lower peak frequencies than smaller ones, but we found no consistent relationship between body size and the temporal characteristics measured. Taken together with earlier findings of positive correlations among male body size, dominance rank and reproductive success, we conclude that the gorilla chest beat is an honest signal of competitive ability. These results emphasize the potential of non-vocal signals to convey important information in mammal communication.

scholarly journals Morphological determinants of jumping performance in the Iberian green frog

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-424
Author(s):  
Gregorio Moreno-Rueda ◽  
Abelardo Requena-Blanco ◽  
Francisco J Zamora-Camacho ◽  
Mar Comas ◽  
Guillem Pascual
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Hind Limb ◽  
Limb Length ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Jumping Performance ◽  
Hind Limbs ◽  
Selective Forces ◽  
Pelophylax Perezi

Abstract Predation is one of the main selective forces in nature, frequently selecting potential prey for developing escape strategies. Escape ability is typically influenced by several morphological parameters, such as morphology of the locomotor appendices, muscular capacity, body mass, or fluctuating asymmetry, and may differ between sexes and age classes. In this study, we tested the relationship among these variables and jumping performance in 712 Iberian green frogs Pelophylax perezi from an urban population. The results suggest that the main determinant of jumping capacity was body size (explaining 48% of variance). Larger frogs jumped farther, but jumping performance reached an asymptote for the largest frogs. Once controlled by structural body size, the heaviest frogs jumped shorter distances, suggesting a trade-off between fat storage and jumping performance. Relative hind limb length also determined a small but significant percentage of variance (2.4%) in jumping performance—that is, the longer the hind limbs, the greater the jumping capacity. Juveniles had relatively shorter and less muscular hind limbs than adults (for a given body size), and their jumping performance was poorer. In our study population, the hind limbs of the frogs were very symmetrical, and we found no effect of fluctuating asymmetry on jumping performance. Therefore, our study provides evidence that jumping performance in frogs is not only affected by body size, but also by body mass and hind limb length, and differ between age classes.

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