Female multiple mating and paternity in free-ranging North American red squirrels

Abstract

Multimale mating (MMM) is common in female mammals, but our understanding of its evolutionary significance in this taxon lags behind that in others (e.g. invertebrates and birds). To date, the majority of research on mammalian MMM has been conducted under laboratory conditions, and the extent to which these findings have relevance for natural populations is little known. We quantified MMM in a free-ranging population of North American red squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus , and investigated its hypothesized influences and consequences. We observed 85 mating chases, representing 62 individual females, over three mating seasons and calculated standardized indexes of MMM and number of copulations. Extrinsic elements of mating chases (i.e. an index of the number of attending males and date) explained variation in MMM, while traits of the females (age and pre-oestrous body mass) did not correlate with MMM. Hypotheses of cryptic direct benefit (fertility assurance and infanticide avoidance) were not supported because MMM did not influence pregnancy rate, litter size or nest fate. There was also no correlation between MMM and offspring quality, multiple paternity or litter allelic diversity, and therefore, no support for hypotheses of genetic benefit. In addition to not accruing observable benefits to MMM, females did not incur a detectable cost, thus rendering MMM selectively neutral. Rather, in line with traditional explanations, female mating behaviour in red squirrels appears to be a passive response to selection on multifemale mating in males.