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Inter-individual variations in male and female mating bonds within a population of Eld’s deer in Hainan Island, China

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Published/Copyright: May 11, 2011
Mammalia
From the journal Volume 75 Issue 2

Abstract

The mating system of a semi-captive population of Hainan Eld’s deer Cervus eldi hainanus was investigated in the Datian National Nature Reserve, China. In total, 18 females and 11 males out of 61 semi-captive deer were involved in mating, and 43 copulations were observed. The mating system of this population was polygynous, with an inter-individual variation in the type of mating bonds among males (i.e., polygyny, promiscuity) and among females (i.e., serial monogamy, polyandry, promiscuity). During the rut, 13 out of these 18 females (72.2%) copulated with only one male, four of the 11 males (36.4%) mated with more than one female but obtained 81.4% mating opportunities (35 of 43 copulations). Dominant males served significantly more females in estrus than subordinate males. Dominant males can monopolize copulations despite the long duration (over 3 months) of the breeding season, and asynchronous estrus of females makes this possible without increasing energetic costs for dominant males. Mating dominance of a dominant male continued for at least 87 days during the rut, thus the male copulated with a total of 11 females. Our results suggest that the inter-individual variations in male and female mating bonds largely depends on mating strategies of dominant males, operational sex ratio as well as multiple estrous periods in females.

Keywords: Cervus eldi; dominance rank; Hainan Eld’s deer; mating system; polygyny
Published Online: 2011-05-11
Published in Print: 2011-05-01

©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York

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  1. Publisher’s note
  2. Publisher’s note
  3. REVIEW
  4. Anthropochorous mammals of the Old World in the West Indies
  5. ORIGINAL STUDIES
  6. Inter-individual variations in male and female mating bonds within a population of Eld’s deer in Hainan Island, China
  7. Age and sex determination of gaur Bos gaurus (Bovidae)
  8. Population structure of Farasan gazelle
  9. Increasing bat abundance in a major winter roost in central Poland over 30 years
  10. Predation on Cacajao ouakary and Cebus albifrons (Primates: Platyrrhini) by harpy eagles
  11. Morphofunctional and geographic segregation among species of lasiurine bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the South American Southern Cone
  12. Investigation of habitat preferences of Iranian jerboa (Allactaga firouzi Womochel 1978)
  13. SHORT NOTES
  14. Enlarging the knowledge on Graomys griseoflavus (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) in Patagonia: distribution and environments
  15. The genus Rhagomys (Thomas 1917) (Rodentia, Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae) in South America: morphological considerations, geographic distribution and zoogeographic comments
  16. Prey selection and food habits of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India
  17. Diet of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra on small watercourses in Western Poland
  18. Book reviews
https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.2011.006
Keywords for this article
Cervus eldi; dominance rank; Hainan Eld’s deer; mating system; polygyny

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Publisher’s note
  2. Publisher’s note
  3. REVIEW
  4. Anthropochorous mammals of the Old World in the West Indies
  5. ORIGINAL STUDIES
  6. Inter-individual variations in male and female mating bonds within a population of Eld’s deer in Hainan Island, China
  7. Age and sex determination of gaur Bos gaurus (Bovidae)
  8. Population structure of Farasan gazelle
  9. Increasing bat abundance in a major winter roost in central Poland over 30 years
  10. Predation on Cacajao ouakary and Cebus albifrons (Primates: Platyrrhini) by harpy eagles
  11. Morphofunctional and geographic segregation among species of lasiurine bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the South American Southern Cone
  12. Investigation of habitat preferences of Iranian jerboa (Allactaga firouzi Womochel 1978)
  13. SHORT NOTES
  14. Enlarging the knowledge on Graomys griseoflavus (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) in Patagonia: distribution and environments
  15. The genus Rhagomys (Thomas 1917) (Rodentia, Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae) in South America: morphological considerations, geographic distribution and zoogeographic comments
  16. Prey selection and food habits of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India
  17. Diet of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra on small watercourses in Western Poland
  18. Book reviews
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