期刊
BIOLOGY LETTERS
卷 9, 期 5, 页码 -出版社
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0396
关键词
giraffe; mating period; rut; faecal androgens; non-invasive hormone monitoring; Hwange National Park
资金
- University of Pretoria
- Novartis/South African Veterinary Foundation Wildlife Research Fund
- Giraffe Conservation Foundation
- CNRS INEE Zones Atelier program
The social organization of giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) imposes a high-cost reproductive strategy on bulls, which adopt a 'roving male' tactic. Our observations on wild giraffes confirm that bulls indeed have unsynchronized rut-like periods, not unlike another tropical megaherbivore, the elephant, but on a much shorter timescale. We found profound changes in male sexual and social activities at the scale of about two weeks. This so far undescribed rutting behaviour is closely correlated with changes in androgen concentrations and appears to be driven by them. The short time scale of the changes in sexual and social activity may explain why dominance and reproductive status in male giraffe in the field seem to be unstable.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据