Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles
With whom and how often to mate are fundamental questions that impact individual reproductive success and the mating system. Relatively few studies have investigated female mating tactics compared with males. Here, we asked how differential access to mates influences the occurrence of mixed paternit...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.220298 |
| _version_ | 1797845368858214400 |
|---|---|
| author | Marissa A. Rice Sydney M. Galindez Joshua T. Garner Alexander G. Ophir |
| author_facet | Marissa A. Rice Sydney M. Galindez Joshua T. Garner Alexander G. Ophir |
| author_sort | Marissa A. Rice |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With whom and how often to mate are fundamental questions that impact individual reproductive success and the mating system. Relatively few studies have investigated female mating tactics compared with males. Here, we asked how differential access to mates influences the occurrence of mixed paternity and overall reproductive success in socially monogamous female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). We created male- and female-biased sex ratios of prairie voles living in semi-natural outdoor enclosures. We ran paternity analyses to determine the identity and number of mating partners females had and the number of offspring produced. We found that 57.1% of females had litters fathered by two or more males when males outnumbered females, and 87.5% of females had litters with more than one father when females outnumbered males. However, the percentage of mixed paternity and the total number of embryos were not statistically different between social contexts. We determined that female fecundity (i.e. number of embryos) correlated with the number of male fathers in each litter across social contexts. Although our study did not support the hypothesis that social context directly influences female mating decisions, it did suggest that female multi-male mating might lead to increased fertilization success under semi-natural conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:37:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb9fc92409ba46b2ad860154238f63cf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:37:56Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb9fc92409ba46b2ad860154238f63cf2023-04-17T11:00:59ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032022-10-0191010.1098/rsos.220298Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie volesMarissa A. Rice0Sydney M. Galindez1Joshua T. Garner2Alexander G. Ophir3Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADepartment of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USADepartment of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USAWith whom and how often to mate are fundamental questions that impact individual reproductive success and the mating system. Relatively few studies have investigated female mating tactics compared with males. Here, we asked how differential access to mates influences the occurrence of mixed paternity and overall reproductive success in socially monogamous female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). We created male- and female-biased sex ratios of prairie voles living in semi-natural outdoor enclosures. We ran paternity analyses to determine the identity and number of mating partners females had and the number of offspring produced. We found that 57.1% of females had litters fathered by two or more males when males outnumbered females, and 87.5% of females had litters with more than one father when females outnumbered males. However, the percentage of mixed paternity and the total number of embryos were not statistically different between social contexts. We determined that female fecundity (i.e. number of embryos) correlated with the number of male fathers in each litter across social contexts. Although our study did not support the hypothesis that social context directly influences female mating decisions, it did suggest that female multi-male mating might lead to increased fertilization success under semi-natural conditions.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.220298female fecundityMicrotus ochrogasterreproductive decision-makingsocial contextsex ratio |
| spellingShingle | Marissa A. Rice Sydney M. Galindez Joshua T. Garner Alexander G. Ophir Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles Royal Society Open Science female fecundity Microtus ochrogaster reproductive decision-making social context sex ratio |
| title | Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles |
| title_full | Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles |
| title_fullStr | Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles |
| title_short | Effects of social and environmental contexts on multi-male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles |
| title_sort | effects of social and environmental contexts on multi male mating and mixed paternity in socially monogamous female prairie voles |
| topic | female fecundity Microtus ochrogaster reproductive decision-making social context sex ratio |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.220298 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marissaarice effectsofsocialandenvironmentalcontextsonmultimalematingandmixedpaternityinsociallymonogamousfemaleprairievoles AT sydneymgalindez effectsofsocialandenvironmentalcontextsonmultimalematingandmixedpaternityinsociallymonogamousfemaleprairievoles AT joshuatgarner effectsofsocialandenvironmentalcontextsonmultimalematingandmixedpaternityinsociallymonogamousfemaleprairievoles AT alexandergophir effectsofsocialandenvironmentalcontextsonmultimalematingandmixedpaternityinsociallymonogamousfemaleprairievoles |