| Summary: | Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1990 General theory on parental provisioning predicts that mammalian offspring receiving more milk should show longer suckling bouts, greater total suckling time, longer intervals between bouts, and greater suckling success. For muskoxen I found that suckling bout duration and suckling success were positively correlated with milk intake during some but not all stages of lactation. Neither interval between suckling bouts, nor total suckling time, was correlated with milk intake. Growth of calves was positively related to milk intake, and among calves of the same age suckling efficiency (intake/min suckling) was highly related to body weight. Therefore, milk intake affects growth rate, which in turn affects suckling efficiency. The overriding influence of calf body size and suckling efficiency limits interpretation of differences in suckling behavior that can be attributed to milk intake by muskox calves and therefore to the provisioning strategy of the cow.
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