Sexual Attractivity of Males and Their Aggressiveness in Rodents with Different Mating Systems
M. A. Potapov, O. F. Potapova, I. V. Zadubrovskaya, P. A. Zadubrovskiy, G. T. Kokenova, G. G. Nazarova, V. I. Evsikov
Keywords: mating systems, polygyny, monogamy, olfactory preferences, reproductive success
Pages: 813-818
Abstract
Male aggressiveness may affect its success in reproduction either directly, by determining competitiveness, or indirectly - through preference given by a female. Starting from the assumption that the relative importance of male aggressiveness in sexual selection may be different for species with different mating systems, we studied its connection with sexual attractivity for polygynous rodent species - the water vole and the house mouse, and a monogamous species - the steppe lemming. For males, the index of aggressiveness was determined (as the fraction of aggression acts among the contacts with the partners of the same sex in dyadic tests) and the index of attractiveness (the fraction of olfactory tests in which females spent longer time in a compartment with the litter of a specific male).
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