期刊
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
卷 30, 期 4, 页码 1050-1061出版社
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arz048
关键词
Asiatic lion; behavioral plasticity; infanticide; mate choice; sexual conflict; social carnivore
资金
- Wildlife Institute of India
- Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology [SERB/F/0601/2013-2016]
In species exhibiting infanticide by males, females lose out with high stakes and should adopt preemptive mechanisms, pitching the genders in an evolutionary arms race for maximizing fitness. African lions remain a quintessential model of this gender war, with a coalition of males gaining temporary but exclusive breeding rights over a female group after killing all cubs of former males. However in Asiatic lions, now found as a single population in Gir forests, India, adults live in same-sex groups that interact primarily for mating. Intensive monitoring of 70 adult lions revealed that female groups (n = 9) used exclusive territories, whereas male ranges (n = 11 coalitions) overlapped at areas of intense female use. A social network of mating events (n = 76) indicated that lionesses mated with multiple rival coalitions before conceiving. These neighboring coalitions, although hostile to each other were tolerant toward the same litters, suggestive of confused paternity among them. Given a land-tenure system where lionesses encounter many males capable of killing unfamiliar cubs, multi-male mating buffers cub infanticide and likely diversifies paternal lineages in litters. Consequently, infanticide was observed only when new males invaded a female group's territory. An age-based mate choice was observed in lionesses: maiden breeders chose males having highest range overlaps, whereas experienced females selected peripheral males. The inter-gender spacing patterns and resultant sexual strategies of lions differ in Asia and Africa probably because of contrasting resource availability, highlighting behavioral plasticity within species inhabiting diverse eco-regions. By mating with multiple males, lionesses safeguard their investments and outdo the males in the war of fitness.
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