Female_aggression_predicts_mode..pdf (335.73 kB)
Female aggression predicts mode of paternity acquisition in a social lizard
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 23:32 authored by Geoffrey WhileGeoffrey While, Sinn, DL, Erik WapstraErik WapstraIndividual differences in behaviour are ubiquitous in nature. Despite the likely role of selection in maintaining these differences, there are few demonstrations of their fitness consequences in wild populations and, consequently, the mechanisms that link behavioural variation to variation in fitness are poorly understood. Specifically, the consequences of consistent individual differences in behaviour for the evolution of social and mating strategies have rarely been considered. We examined the functional links between variation in female aggression and her social and mating strategies in a wild population of the social lizard Egernia whitii. We show that female Egernia exhibit temporally consistent aggressive phenotypes, which are unrelated to body size, territory size or social density. A female's aggressive phenotype, however, has strong links to her mode of paternity acquisition (within- versus extra-pair paternity), with more aggressive females having more offspring sired by extra-pair males than less aggressive females. We discuss the potential mechanisms by which female aggression could underpin mating strategies, such as the pursuit/acceptance of extra-pair copulations. We propose that a deeper understanding of the evolution and maintenance of social and mating systems may result from an explicit focus on individual-level female behavioural phenotypes and their relationship with key reproductive strategies. © 2009 The Royal Society.
History
Publication title
Proceedings of The Royal Society. Biological SciencesVolume
276Issue
1664Pagination
2021-2029ISSN
0962-8452Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
The Royal SocietyPlace of publication
United KingdomRepository Status
- Restricted