Anogenital distance and condition as predictors of litter sex ratio in two mouse species: a study of the house mouse (Mus musculus) and mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus).

Oxána Bánszegi,Zita Groó,Samuli Helle,Péter Szenczi,Vilmos Altbäcker

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074066

Oxána Bánszegi, Zita Groó + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074066

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Abstract

The Trivers – Willard hypothesis (1973) suggests that the maternal condition may affect the female's litter size and sex ratio. Since then other factors had been found. Previous findings revealed in the case of some mammalian species, that females with larger anogenital distance have smaller litters, while the sex ratio is male-biased. That has only been demonstrated in laboratory animals, while the genetic diversity of a wild population could mask the phenomenon seen in laboratory colonies. We examined the connection between morphological traits (weight and anogenital distance) and the reproductive capacity of two wild mice species, the house mouse and the mound-building mice. We showed in both species that anogenital distance and body weight correlated positively in pre-pubertal females, but not in adults. Neither the house mouse nor the mound-building mouse mothers' weight had effect on their litter's size and sex ratio. Otherwise connection was found between the mothers' anogenital distance and their litters' sex ratio in both species. The results revealed that females with larger anogenital distance delivered male biased litter in both species. The bias occurred as while the number of female pups remained the same; mothers with large anogenital distance delivered more male pups compared to the mothers with small anogenital distance. We concluded that a female's prenatal life affects her reproductive success more than previously anticipated.

Highlights

Several previous studies have shown that in a number of mammalian species the sex ratio of offsprings in utero or at birth may differ from 50:50
Almost 40 years ago Trivers and Willard suggested that natural selection favors maternal control of offspring sex ratio: the decline of maternal condition may produce lower ratio of males [1]
Using Pearson’s rank-order correlation test, anogenital distance and body weight showed positive correlation in pre-pubertal females in both species (HM: r = 0.54; n = 50; p,0.001; MBM: r = 0.49; n = 50; p,0.001), but this relation disappeared in adults (HM: r = 0.13; n = 50; p = 0.37; MBM: r = 0.10; n = 50; p = 0.47) (Figure 1.a.b)

Summary

Introduction

Several previous studies have shown that in a number of mammalian species the sex ratio of offsprings in utero or at birth may differ from 50:50. It was found that this hypothesis applies to species in which the litter size is one. A females’ social status affects its litter’s size and sex ratio, where high ranking mothers gave birth to larger and male biased litters [5,6]. High rank generally means better quality or condition, larger body size or weight, and better access to resources. Wild boar mother quality (size and weight) affected only the size of the litter, but not the sex ratio [14]

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