Male Dominance, Female Choice and Male Copulatory Behavior in Two Species of Voles (Microtus ochrogaster and Microtus montanus)

Female preferences for dominant males in prairie and montane voles were analyzed in two different test situations. In the first, prairie vole females preferentially spent time in proximity to dominant versus subordinate males which were housed behind a wire mesh screen. In a two-male tether test pra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 1986-02, Vol.18 (4), p.267-274
Main Authors: Shapiro, Lawrence E., Dewsbury, Donald A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal ethology
Biological and medical sciences
Ejaculation
Female animals
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human sexual behavior
Male animals
Mammalia
Mating behavior
Mating systems
Microtus montanus
Microtus ochrogaster
Prairies
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Rats
Social behavior
Vertebrata
Voles
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Summary:Female preferences for dominant males in prairie and montane voles were analyzed in two different test situations. In the first, prairie vole females preferentially spent time in proximity to dominant versus subordinate males which were housed behind a wire mesh screen. In a two-male tether test prairie voles females both preferentially associated and mated with dominant males. Montane voles, on the other hand, showed no preference in either test situation. The baseline copulatory behavior of naive montane vole males which became dominant differed significantly from those which became subordinate; no such differences were evident in the baseline copulatory behavior of naive prairie voles. One hour following dominance testing, there was no difference evident between dominant and subordinate males of either species but there was a general facilitation of male copulatory behavior in both species, the effect being of greater magnitude in montane voles.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/BF00300003