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Dataset results
13 results for “male contests”
Vibrating aggression: Spider males perform an unusual assessment strategy during contest displays
<p>A recurrent question in animal contests is whether individuals adopt a self or mutual assessment rule to decide to withdraw from a contest. However, many empirical studies fail to find conclusive support for one of these two possibilities. A possible explanation is that assessment strategies vary between individuals. In the contests of the orb-web spider <em>Trichonephila clavipes</em>, males perform a vibrational display on webs that may escalate to physical contact. Since all individuals perform the vibrational phase and only some of them escalate, we proposed two hypotheses: 1) all individuals perform mutual assessment during the vibrational phase, or 2) some individuals that do not escalate adopt self-assessment, while individuals that escalated adopt mutual assessment. To evaluate these hypotheses, we investigated the relationship between the duration of the vibrational phase and frontal leg length (a proxy of male fight capacity) of loser and winner males in contests that escalated and did not escalate to the physical contact phase. We found a non-significant relationship between duration and losers leg length for both contests that escalate and did not escalate. While we found a positive relationship between duration and winners leg length, particularly in contests that did not escalate. These results do not provide support for mutual assessment or for a mix of different assessment rules among individuals. We suggest that in <em>T. clavipes</em>, the dynamics of the vibrational phase may be explained by two different contest strategies (opponent-only assessment or size-based aggressiveness) that are dependent on intruder motivation to escalate.</p>
Vibrating aggression: Spider males perform an unusual assessment strategy during contest displays
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Data for: The effect of brief or prolonged bouts of winning or losing male-male contests on plasticity in sexually selected traits
<p>Fight outcomes often affect male fitness by determining their access to mates. Thus 'winner-loser' effects, where winners often win their next contest, while losers tend to lose, can influence how males allocate resources towards pre- and post-copulatory traits. We experimentally manipulated the winning/losing experiences of pairs of size-matched male <em>Gambusia holbrooki</em> for either a day, a week or three weeks to test whether prior winning/losing experiences differentially affect the plasticity of male investment into either mating effort (pre-copulatory) or ejaculates (post-copulatory). When winner/loser pairs directly competed for a female, winners had better pre-copulatory outcomes than losers for three of the four traits we measured: mating attempts, successful attempts, and time spent with the female (but not aggression). However, winners and losers did not differ in either their total sperm counts nor sperm velocity. Interestingly, absolute male size, an important predictor of fighting success, mediated winner-loser effects on how long males then spent near a female. Compared to losers, smaller winners spent more time with the female than did larger winners, suggesting that how males respond to prior social experiences is size-dependent. We discuss the general importance of controlling for inherent male condition when comparing male investment into condition-dependent traits.</p>
Data for: The effect of brief or prolonged bouts of winning or losing male-male contests on plasticity in sexually selected traits
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Data and code for: Male-male contest limits the expression of assortative mate preferences in a polymorphic poison frog
<p>Co-divergence of sexual traits and mate preferences can lead to assortative mating and subsequently reproductive isolation. However, mate choice rarely operates without intrasexual competition, and the effects of the latter on speciation are often overlooked. Maintaining trait polymorphisms despite gene flow and limiting assortative female preferences for less-competitive male phenotypes are two important roles that male-male competition may play in the speciation process. Both roles rely on the assumption that male-male competition limits the expression of divergent female preferences. We tested this assumption in the highly color-polymorphic strawberry poison frog (<i>Oophaga pumilio</i>). Females prefer males of the local color, suggesting that reproductive isolation may be evolving among color morphs. However, this inference does not account for male-male competition, which is also color-mediated. We housed females with two differently-colored males, and compared reproductive patterns when the more attractive male was the territory holder <i>versus</i> when he was the non-territorial male. Females mated primarily with the territory winner, regardless of coloration, suggesting that when a choice must be made between the two, male territoriality overrides female preferences for male coloration<i>.</i> Our results highlight the importance of considering the combined effects of mate choice and intrasexual competition in shaping phenotypic divergence and speciation.</p>
Data from: Fighting in rounds: males of a Neotropical cricket switch assessment strategies during contests
How animals decide to withdraw from contests is central to understand the evolution of fighting behavior. Game theory models suggest two major types of decision criteria: 1) self-assessment, where individuals withdraw when they reach a cost-threshold determined by their own fighting ability that may or may not be affected by injuries, or 2) mutual assessment, where the decision is based on information about the relative fighting ability of the opponents. Many empirical studies have assumed that opponents use a single strategy throughout the whole fight. However, they often find partial support for a specific model. This might be due to individuals changing their strategy between phases of a contest. In this work, we addressed this issue by evaluating if males of the cricket Melanotes ornata switch their assessment strategy between phases. We used hind femur length as a proxy for fighting ability, as it was the attribute most strongly associated with contest outcome. Overall fight duration was positively associated with the loser's femur length and negatively associated with the winner's femur length, while the probability of escalation to physical aggression was negatively related to the difference in femur between opponents. However, such relationships held only at the first contest phase. During the escalated phase, fight duration was only correlated (although weakly) with femur length of losers. These results indicate that M. ornata males perform mutual assessment in the initial phase but switch their assessment strategy when fights escalate, suggesting a single strategy does not correctly explain how contests are settled.
Data from: Song rate as a signal of male aggressiveness during territorial contests in the wood warbler
Aggressive signaling is an important component in animal communication, as it provides an efficient mechanism for settling conflicts over resources between competitors. In songbirds, a number of singing behaviors have been proposed to be aggressive signals used in territory defense, including song rate. Although aggressive signaling in songbirds has received considerable research attention, adequate evidence for most putative aggressive signals is not available. In this study, we experimentally investigated whether the song rate of male wood warblers (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) is a signal of their aggressive intent in male-male interactions. We found that males responded differentially to simulated territorial intrusions depending on the song rate of an intruder. Moreover, males that continued to sing during territorial contests increased their song rates, and this behavior predicted the strength of aggressive escalation by the signaler. These results suggest that song rate is an aggressive signal during male-male interactions in the wood warbler. We also found high intra-individual repeatability in the strength of aggressive response to simulated intrusions, likely reflecting differences in personality (aggressiveness) or quality of male wood warblers. We conclude that changes in singing rate may be an efficient mechanism of signaling immediate shifts in motivation of signalers during territorial contests, especially in species that lack large repertoires or have simple songs.
Data and code for: Male-male contest limits the expression of assortative mate preferences in a polymorphic poison frog
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Data from: Fighting in rounds: males of a Neotropical cricket switch assessment strategies during contests
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Data from: Song rate as a signal of male aggressiveness during territorial contests in the wood warbler
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Data from Effects of social experience, aggressiveness and comb size on contest success in male domestic fowl
<p class="04Abstract"><span>The ability to dominate conspecifics and thereby gain access to resources depends on a number of traits and skills. Experience of dominance relationships during development is a potential source of learning such skills. We here study the importance of social experience, aggressiveness, and morphological traits for competitiveness in social interactions (winning duels) in male domestic fowl (<i>Gallus gallus domesticus</i>). We let males grow up either as a single (dominant) male or as an intermediately ranked male in a group of males, and measured their success in duels against different opponents. We found that single-raised males had lower competitive ability than group-raised males, and that aggression and comb size had positive effects on competitive ability. This indicates that experience of dominance interactions increases future success in duels. We similarly studied the consequences of growing up as a dominant or subordinate in a pair of males, finding no statistically significant effect of the dominance position on competitive ability. Finally, we found that males were consistent over time in competitive ability. We conclude that social experience increases competitive ability in male domestic fowl, but that certain behavioural and morphological characteristics have an equal or even stronger influence on duel outcomes.</span></p>
Data from: Rival assessment among northern elephant seals: evidence of associative learning during male-male contests
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Data from Effects of social experience, aggressiveness and comb size on contest success in male domestic fowl
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