Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale
Abstract Parentage analyses of baleen whales are rare, and although mating systems have been hypothesized for some species, little data on realized male reproductive success are available and the patterns of male reproductive success have remained elusive for most species. Here we combine over 20 ye...
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03570.x 2024-06-23T07:51:35+00:00 Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale FRASIER, T. R. HAMILTON, P. K. BROWN, M. W. CONGER, L. A. KNOWLTON, A. R. MARX, M. K. SLAY, C. K. KRAUS, S. D. WHITE, B. N. 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03570.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-294X.2007.03570.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03570.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Molecular Ecology volume 16, issue 24, page 5277-5293 ISSN 0962-1083 1365-294X journal-article 2007 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03570.x 2024-06-04T06:37:03Z Abstract Parentage analyses of baleen whales are rare, and although mating systems have been hypothesized for some species, little data on realized male reproductive success are available and the patterns of male reproductive success have remained elusive for most species. Here we combine over 20 years of photo‐identification data with high‐resolution genetic data for the majority of individual North Atlantic right whales to assess paternity in this endangered species. There was significant skew in male reproductive success compared to what would be expected if mating was random ( P < 0.001). The difference was due to an excess of males assigned zero paternities, a deficiency of males assigned one paternity, and an excess of males assigned as fathers for multiple calves. The variance in male reproductive success was high relative to other aquatically mating marine mammals, but was low relative to mammals where the mating system is based on resource‐ and/or mate‐defence polygyny. These results are consistent with previous data suggesting that the right whale mating system represents one of the most intense examples of sperm competition in mammals, but that sperm competition on its own does not allow for the same degree of polygyny as systems where males can control access to resources and/or mates. The age distribution of assigned fathers was significantly biased towards older males ( P < 0.05), with males not obtaining their first paternity until ~15 years of age, which is almost twice the average age of first fertilization in females (8 years), suggesting that mate competition is preventing younger males from reproducing. The uneven distribution of paternities results in a lower effective population size in this species that already has one of the lowest reported levels of genetic diversity, which may further inhibit reproductive success through mate incompatibility of genetically similar individuals. Article in Journal/Newspaper baleen whales North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Wiley Online Library Molecular Ecology 16 24 5277 5293 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Parentage analyses of baleen whales are rare, and although mating systems have been hypothesized for some species, little data on realized male reproductive success are available and the patterns of male reproductive success have remained elusive for most species. Here we combine over 20 years of photo‐identification data with high‐resolution genetic data for the majority of individual North Atlantic right whales to assess paternity in this endangered species. There was significant skew in male reproductive success compared to what would be expected if mating was random ( P < 0.001). The difference was due to an excess of males assigned zero paternities, a deficiency of males assigned one paternity, and an excess of males assigned as fathers for multiple calves. The variance in male reproductive success was high relative to other aquatically mating marine mammals, but was low relative to mammals where the mating system is based on resource‐ and/or mate‐defence polygyny. These results are consistent with previous data suggesting that the right whale mating system represents one of the most intense examples of sperm competition in mammals, but that sperm competition on its own does not allow for the same degree of polygyny as systems where males can control access to resources and/or mates. The age distribution of assigned fathers was significantly biased towards older males ( P < 0.05), with males not obtaining their first paternity until ~15 years of age, which is almost twice the average age of first fertilization in females (8 years), suggesting that mate competition is preventing younger males from reproducing. The uneven distribution of paternities results in a lower effective population size in this species that already has one of the lowest reported levels of genetic diversity, which may further inhibit reproductive success through mate incompatibility of genetically similar individuals. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
FRASIER, T. R. HAMILTON, P. K. BROWN, M. W. CONGER, L. A. KNOWLTON, A. R. MARX, M. K. SLAY, C. K. KRAUS, S. D. WHITE, B. N. |
spellingShingle |
FRASIER, T. R. HAMILTON, P. K. BROWN, M. W. CONGER, L. A. KNOWLTON, A. R. MARX, M. K. SLAY, C. K. KRAUS, S. D. WHITE, B. N. Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale |
author_facet |
FRASIER, T. R. HAMILTON, P. K. BROWN, M. W. CONGER, L. A. KNOWLTON, A. R. MARX, M. K. SLAY, C. K. KRAUS, S. D. WHITE, B. N. |
author_sort |
FRASIER, T. R. |
title |
Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale |
title_short |
Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale |
title_full |
Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale |
title_fullStr |
Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered North Atlantic right whale |
title_sort |
patterns of male reproductive success in a highly promiscuous whale species: the endangered north atlantic right whale |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03570.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-294X.2007.03570.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03570.x |
genre |
baleen whales North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
genre_facet |
baleen whales North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
op_source |
Molecular Ecology volume 16, issue 24, page 5277-5293 ISSN 0962-1083 1365-294X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294x.2007.03570.x |
container_title |
Molecular Ecology |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
24 |
container_start_page |
5277 |
op_container_end_page |
5293 |
_version_ |
1802642708231094272 |