Sammendrag
Sexually selected infanticide (SSI) is often presumed to be rare among seasonal
breeders, because it would require a near immediate return to estrus after the
loss of an entire litter during the mating season. We evaluated changes in reproductive
strategies and the reproductive fate of females that experienced litter loss
during the mating season in a seasonal breeder with strong evidence for SSI, the
brown bear. First, we used a long-term demographic dataset (1986–2011) to
document that a large majority of females (>91%) that lose their entire litter
during the mating season in fact do enter estrus, mate, and give birth during the
subsequent birthing season. Second, we used high-resolution movement data
(2005–2011) to evaluate how females changed reproductive strategies after losing
their entire litter during the mating season. We hypothesized that females would
shift from the sedentary lifestyle typical for females with cubs-of-the-year to a
roam-to-mate behavior typical for receptive females in no more than a few (~3)
days after litter loss. We found that females with cubs-of-the-year moved at
about 1/3 of the rate and in a less bimodal diurnal pattern than receptive females
during the mating season. The probability of litter loss was positively related
with movement rate, suggesting that being elusive and sedentary is a strategy to
enhance cub survival rather than a relic of cub mobility itself. The movement
patterns of receptive females and females after litter loss were indistinguishable
within 1–2 days after the litter loss, and we illustrate that SSI can significantly
reduce the female interbirth interval (50–85%). Our results suggest that SSI can
also be advantageous for males in seasonally breeding mammals. We propose
that infanticide as a male reproductive strategy is more prevalent among mammals
with reproductive seasonality than observed or reported.
Lactational anestrus, reproductive fate,
reproductive strategy, sexual selection,
sexually selected infanticide, Ursus arctos.
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