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Tristan A.F. Long
Ejaculate investment in a promiscuous rodent, Peromyscus maniculatus: effects of population density and social role. Evolutionary Ecology Research 8: 345-356
T.A.F. Long and R. Montgomerie
published: 2005 | Research publication | Tristan A.F Long
Questions: How does average male investment into ejaculates vary with changing population density (and thus with the risk of sperm competition) in a promiscuous species? Do individual male investment strategies vary with population density?
Data Studied: Total testes mass, somatic mass and annual population density for wild-caught male deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, collected by snap-trapping over a 23-year period in Algonquin Provincial Park, ON, Canada.
Search Methods: We analyzed the relation between mean testes mass and mouse population densities across years. To investigate individual investment patterns, we compared the relation between total testes mass and somatic mass among males for years differing in population density.
Conclusions: Average investment into testes was positively correlated with annual population density. An individual's investment into testes depended on both the abundance of rival males and on relative body size, a trait associated with social rank.
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