Social organization during mating, but not offspring care, influences the reproductive success of male degus, Octodon degus

We report results of a longitudinal study on the influence of social organization during different seasons on male reproductive success in the common degu (Octodon degus), a caviomorph rodent endemic to Chile. Male social organization was variable across years and seasons. The best fit model for male reproductive success included autumn-winter social organization unit type, year, spring group ID, and autumn-winter group ID. During the autumn-winter, male reproductive success was greatest in female/male pairs (FM) and was lowest for solitary male units (M) and units containing one female and multiple males (FMM). Spring male social organization did not have an impact on male reproductive success. This suggests certain social organization types are reproductively costly to male degus during the mating season (autumn-winter) but not offspring care (spring). Our study highlights the importance of social organization as a core component of a social system when studying male reproductive success.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Chyanne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hayes, Loren D.
• Aborn, David A.; Maldonado-Chaparro, Adriana
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Degus--Reproduction

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/843

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2019