IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
| Packer, C.; Pusey, A.E. | |
| Adaptations of female lions to infanticide by incoming males | |
| 1983 The American Naturalist (121): 716-728 | |
Female lions with cubs show various direct responses to immigrating males, including defence of their cubs or avoidance of the new males. Despite these responses, male replacement in the females' pride results in considerable cub mortality. Those females that remain in the pride and mate with the new males show low fertility in the first few months after a takeover of their pride. At the same time, however, females show heightened sexual activity, being more active in initiating copulations and seeking a greater number of mating partners. These two factors appear to elicit competition between male coalitions for control of the pride, with the result that larger coalitions eventually become resident. We suggest that this is adaptive because a female needs protection from male harassment of their cubs for over 2yr in order to rear her cubs successfully, and only large male coalitions are likely to remain in a pride for more than 2 yr. We present a simple model that specifies one set of conditions under which a female will improve her lifetime reproductive success by showing temporary periods of infertility, but attracting a larger coalition. |
|
 |
PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here |
(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union) |