Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans
Abstract Infanticide by adult males is a striking example of sexual conflict; males can increase their reproductive success by killing an unrelated infant and accelerating the mother’s return to breeding condition. Reports of infanticide in cetaceans have quadrupled in the past decade, and infantici...
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crspringernat:10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 2024-03-10T08:37:37+00:00 Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans McEntee, Molly H. F. MacQueeney, Meredith Alvarado, Diana Mann, Janet 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 unknown Springer International Publishing https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Sex in Cetaceans page 199-224 ISBN 9783031356506 9783031356513 book-chapter 2023 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 2024-02-13T18:53:18Z Abstract Infanticide by adult males is a striking example of sexual conflict; males can increase their reproductive success by killing an unrelated infant and accelerating the mother’s return to breeding condition. Reports of infanticide in cetaceans have quadrupled in the past decade, and infanticide has now been documented in six species of toothed whale, including multiple populations of common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ). Evidence of infanticide in these species is consistent with the sexual selection hypothesis; perpetrators are predominantly adult males and targets are neonates. Toothed whales have long lactation periods that suppress estrus, making infanticide potentially adaptive for adult males. However, it remains unclear if infanticidal males are likely to sire the mother’s subsequent offspring. Here, we provide an overview of infanticide in cetaceans, evaluate the evidence for the sexual selection hypothesis, and propose a framework to predict infanticide risk in this clade. Toothed whales do not typically have dominance hierarchies, stable social groups, or monopolizable mating opportunities, all hallmarks of infanticide risk in terrestrial species. Instead, we hypothesize that infanticide risk in toothed whales is modulated by encounter rates with unfamiliar males. Book Part toothed whale toothed whales Springer Nature 199 224 Cham |
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Abstract Infanticide by adult males is a striking example of sexual conflict; males can increase their reproductive success by killing an unrelated infant and accelerating the mother’s return to breeding condition. Reports of infanticide in cetaceans have quadrupled in the past decade, and infanticide has now been documented in six species of toothed whale, including multiple populations of common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ). Evidence of infanticide in these species is consistent with the sexual selection hypothesis; perpetrators are predominantly adult males and targets are neonates. Toothed whales have long lactation periods that suppress estrus, making infanticide potentially adaptive for adult males. However, it remains unclear if infanticidal males are likely to sire the mother’s subsequent offspring. Here, we provide an overview of infanticide in cetaceans, evaluate the evidence for the sexual selection hypothesis, and propose a framework to predict infanticide risk in this clade. Toothed whales do not typically have dominance hierarchies, stable social groups, or monopolizable mating opportunities, all hallmarks of infanticide risk in terrestrial species. Instead, we hypothesize that infanticide risk in toothed whales is modulated by encounter rates with unfamiliar males. |
format |
Book Part |
author |
McEntee, Molly H. F. MacQueeney, Meredith Alvarado, Diana Mann, Janet |
spellingShingle |
McEntee, Molly H. F. MacQueeney, Meredith Alvarado, Diana Mann, Janet Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans |
author_facet |
McEntee, Molly H. F. MacQueeney, Meredith Alvarado, Diana Mann, Janet |
author_sort |
McEntee, Molly H. F. |
title |
Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans |
title_short |
Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans |
title_full |
Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans |
title_fullStr |
Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans |
title_full_unstemmed |
Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans |
title_sort |
infanticide and sexual conflict in cetaceans |
publisher |
Springer International Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 |
genre |
toothed whale toothed whales |
genre_facet |
toothed whale toothed whales |
op_source |
Sex in Cetaceans page 199-224 ISBN 9783031356506 9783031356513 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35651-3_10 |
container_start_page |
199 |
op_container_end_page |
224 |
op_publisher_place |
Cham |
_version_ |
1793134750716657664 |