Meeting with a male can lead to stress: Female reaction to a pairing with a partner in Felidae

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the level of sexual dimorphism modulates the effects of male -female social interaction on the female physiological condition in felids. We predicted that: 1 - contacts of fe-males with males in species with low level of sexual dimorphism in body size will not lead to significant changes in the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (female stress); 2 -contacts of females with males in species with a high level of sexual dimorphism can result in significant increase in the cortisol level in females. Our study did not support these hypotheses. Despite the fact that sexual dimorphism influenced partner re-lationships, changes of the activity of HPA in response to social interaction with a partner appeared to be determined by the biology of the species rather than by the degree of sexual dimorphism. In species with un-expressed sexual dimorphism in body size, females determined the character of relationships in the pair. In species with pronounced sexual dimorphism biased towards males, the pattern of relationships was determined by males. However, meeting a partner led to increased cortisol levels in females not in pairs with pronounced sexual dimorphism, but in pairs with a high frequency of partner interactions. This frequency was determined by the species life history and was probably related to the seasonality of reproduction and the degree of monop-olization of the home range.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sexual dimorphism and social interaction on female physiological condition in felids. The results did not support the hypothesis that sexual dimorphism influences the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) in females. Instead, the biology of the species and the frequency of partner interactions were found to be determining factors. Meeting a partner led to increased cortisol levels in females, particularly in species with high partner interaction frequency and a high degree of sexual dimorphism biased towards males.