Environmental and maternal correlates of foetal sex ratios in the African buffalo (Syncerus coffer) and savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana)

Journal of Zoology

Volumn 264, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 111-116

  Visscher, D R ^a   Van Aarde, R J ^a   Whyte, I ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA   (South Africa)

^b KRUGER NATIONAL PARK   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Buffalo; Elephant; Local resource competition; Loxodonta africana; Sex ratios; Syncerus caffer; Trivers Willard hypothesis

Indexed keywords

BODY CONDITION; ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT; MAMMAL; MATERNAL EFFECT; SEX RATIO;

AFRICA; KRUGER NATIONAL PARK; SOUTH AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

BUBALUS; ELEPHANT; LOXODONTA; LOXODONTA AFRICANA; MAMMALIA; SYNCERUS; SYNCERUS CAFFER;

EID: 6344287946     PISSN: 09528369     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0952836904005436     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. Buss, I. O. & Smith, N. S. (1966). Observations on reproduction and breeding behavior of the African elephant. J Wildl. Manage 30: 375-388.
2. Buss, I. O., Rasmussen, L. E. & Smuts, G. L. (1976). The role of stress and individual recognition in the function of the African elephant's temporal gland. Mammalia 40: 437-451.
3. Caley, M. J. & Nudds, T. D. (1987). Sex-ratio adjustment in Odocoileus: does local resource competition play a role? Am. Nat. 129: 452-457.
4. Cameron, E. Z. & Linklater, W. L. (2000). Individual mares bias investment in sons and daughters in relation to their condition. Anim. Behav. 60: 359-367.
5. Cameron, E. Z., Linklater, W. L., Stafford, K. J. & Minot, E. O. (2000). Aging and improved reproductive success in horses: declining residual reproductive value or just older and wiser? Behav. Ecol. Sociobiot. 47: 243-249.
6. Caron, A., Cross, P. C. & du Toit, J. T. (2003). Ecological implications of bovine tuberculosis in African buffalo herds. Ecol. Appl. 13: 1338-1345.
7. Cassinello, J. & Gomendio, M. (1996). Adaptive variation in litter size and sex ratio at birth in a sexually dimorphic ungulate. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 263: 1461-1466.
8. Clark, A. B. (1978). Sex ratio and local resource competition in a prosimian primate. Science 201: 163-165.
9. Clutton-Brock, T. H. (1984). Reproductive effort and terminal investment in iteroparous animals. Am. Nat. 123: 212-229.
10. Clutton-Brock, T. H., Albon, S. D. & Guinness, F. E. (1984). Maternal dominance, breeding success and birth sex ratios in red deer. Nature (Lond.) 308: 358-360.
11. Clutton-Brock, T. H. & Iason, G. R. (1986). Sex ratio variation in mammals. Q. Rev. Biol. 61: 339-374.
12. Coe, M. J., Cumming, D. H. M. & Phillipson, J. (1976). Biomass and the production of large African herbivores in relation to rainfall and primary productivity. Oecologia (Berl.) 22: 341-354.
13. Côté, S. D. & Festa-Bianchet, M. (2001). Offspring sex ratio in relation to maternal age and social rank in mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 49: 260-265.
14. Craig, G. C. (1984). Foetal mass and date of conception in African elephants: a revised formula. S. Afr. J. Sci. 80: 512-516.
15. Festa-Bianchet, M. (1996). Offspring sex ratio studies of mammals: does publication depend on quality of the research or direction of the results? Ecoscience 3: 42-44.
16. Fritz, H. & Duncan, P. (1994). On the carrying capacity of large ungulates of African savanna ecosystems. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 256: 77-82.
17. Green, W. C. H. & Rothstein, A. (1991). Sex bias or equal oppurtunity? Patterns of maternal investment in bison. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 29: 373-384.
18. Grimsdell, J. J. R. (1973). Age determination of the African buffalo, Syncerus caffer Sparrman. East Afr. Wildl. J. 11: 31-53.
19. Hanks, J. (1972). Growth of the African elephant (Loxodonto africana). East Afr. Wildl. J. 10: 251-272.
20. Hewison, A. J. M. & Gaillard, J.-M. (1999). Successful sons or advantaged daughters? The Trivers-Willard model and sex-biased maternal investment in ungulates. Trends Ecol. Evol. 14: 229-234.
21. Hewison, A. J. M., Gaillard, J.-M., Blanchard, P. & Festa-Bianchet, M. (2002). Maternal age is not a predominant determinant of progeny sex ratio variation in ungulates. Oikos 98: 334-339.
22. Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, M. (1993). Skewed sex ratios in primates: should high-ranking mothers have daughters or sons? Trends Ecol. Evol. 8: 395-400.
23. Hoefs, M. & Nowlan, U. (1994). Distorted sex ratios in young ungulates: the role of nutrition. J. Mammal. 75: 631-636.
24. Hosmer, D. W. & Lemeshow, S. (2000). Applied logistic regression. 2nd edn. New York: Wiley.
25. Huggett, A. St G. & Widdas, W. F. (1951). The relationship between mammalian foetal weight and conception age. J. Physiol. 114: 306-317.
26. Joubert, S. C. J. (1986). Masterplan for the management of the Kruger National Park. Unpublished internal report. Skukuza: Kruger National Park.
27. Kojola, I. (1997). Social status and physical condition of mother and sex ratio of offspring in cervids. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 51: 267-274.
28. Kruuk, L. E., Clutton-Brock, T. H., Albon, S. D., Pemberton, J. M. & Guinness, F. E. (1999). Population density affects sex ratio variation in red deer. Nature (Lond.) 399: 459-461.
29. Larson, M. A., Kimura, K., Kubisch, H. M. & Roberts, R. M. (2001). Sexual dimorphism among bovine embryos in their ability to make the transition to expanded blastocyst and the expression of the signaling molecule IFN-τ. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98: 9677-9682.
30. Laws, R. M. (1969). Aspects of reproduction in the African elephant, Loxodonta africana. J. Reprod. Fertil. Suppl. 6: 193-217.
31. Linklater, W. L., Cameron, E. Z., Minot, E. O. & Stafford, K. J. (1999). Stallion harassment and the mating system of horses. Anim. Behav. 58: 295-306.
32. Lloyd, P. H. & Rasa, O. A. E (1989). Status, reproductive success and fitness in Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra). Behav. Ecol. 25: 411-420.
33. Nevison, C. (1997). Social rank and birth sex ratios in Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 51: 285-291.
34. Ogutu, J. O. & Owen-Smith, N. (2003). ENSO, rainfall and temperature influences on extreme population declines among African savanna ungulates. Ecol. Lett. 6: 412-419.
35. Pederson, J. C. & Harper, K. T. (1984). Does summer range quality influence sex ratios among mule deer fawns in Utah? J. Range Manage. 37: 64-66.
36. Pienaar, U. de V. (1969). Observations on the developmental biology, growth and some aspects of the population ecology of African buffalo (Syncerus caffer Sparman) in the Kruger National Park. Koedoe 12: 29-52.
37. Rutberg, A. T. (1983). Factors influencing dominance status in American bison cows (Bison bison). Z. Tierpsychol. 63: 206-212.
38. Rutberg, A. T. (1986). Lactation and the foetal sex ratios in American bison. Am. Nat. 127: 89-94.
39. Saltz, D. (2001). Sex ratio variation in ungulates: adaption meets environmental perturbation of demography. Oikos 94: 377-384.
40. Saltz, D. & Kotler, B. P. (2003). Maternal age is a predominant determinant of progeny sex ratio variation in ungulates: a reply to Hewison et al. Oikos 101: 646-648.
41. Sikes, S. K. (1967a). The African elephant, Loxodonta africana: a field method for the estimation of age. J. Zool. (Lond.) 154: 235-248.
42. Sikes, S. K. (1967b). How to tell the age of an African elephant. Afr. Wildl. 21: 191-200.
43. Silk, J. B. (1983). Local resource competition and facultative adjustment of sex ratios in relation to competitive abilities. Am. Nat. 121: 55-66.
44. Sinclair, A. R. E. (1977). The African buffalo: study of resource limitation on population. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
45. Skinner, J. D. & Smithers, R. H. N. (1990). The mammals of the Southern African subregion. 2nd edn. Pretoria: University of Pretoria.
46. Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. (1995). Biometry, New York: W. H. Freeman.
47. Trivers, R. L. & Willard, D. E. (1973). Natural selection of parental ability to vary the sex ratio of offspring. Science 179: 90-92.
48. van Aarde, R. J., Whyte, I. & Pimm, S. L. (1999). Culling and the dynamics of the Kruger National Park African elephant population. Anim. Conserv. 2: 287-294.
49. Verme, L. (1985). Progeny sex ratio relationships in deer: theoretical vs. observed. J. Wildl. Manage. 49: 134-136.