Journal
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
Volume 79, Issue 6, Pages 1293-1300Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.02.031
Keywords
body condition; contest structure; Dama dama; fallow deer; fighting; life history; reproductive effort
Categories
Funding
- Centre for Behaviour and Evolution at Newcastle University
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According to life history theory, males of iteroparous species are expected to trade off investment between current and future reproduction based on age ( mating strategy or terminal investment hypotheses) or body condition ( individual quality hypothesis). However, although central to this latter model, the question concerning whether and to what extent condition regulates competitive investment in polygynous species is unknown. Consequently, we investigated this issue with reference to fight structure in fallow deer contests. Support for the individual quality hypothesis was limited: males with larger necks as determined by prerut neck girth fought for longer than males with smaller necks. However, prime-aged males had higher investment in fighting than preprime- or postprime-aged males indicating that investment in fighting might be age related. Other aspects of our results also failed to support condition-related predictions; although we found that jump clashing and vocal rate were related to weight loss and decline in neck girth, respectively, there was no relationship between investment in fighting and prerut measures of body size. Moreover, we also found that rank was predicted by investment in fighting ( backward pushing) rather than body condition. Our results show that, in addition to body condition and age, variation in competitive investment between individuals also influences reproductive effort in the fallow deer. (C) 2010 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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