Male reproductive success and female preference in bushy-tailed woodrats (Neotoma cinerea): do females prefer males in good physical condition?

Abstract

In many mating systems, females may benefit by selecting a male with high genetic quality in the form of good genes or compatible genes. In bushy-tailed woodrats ( Neotoma cinerea Ord, 1815), previous research has shown that male reproductive success correlates with the mass change of males over the breeding season, indicating that physical body condition may directly influence female choice and hence male reproductive success. We examined male physical condition in relation to reproductive success in the field. Male physical condition was measured as body-mass change over the breeding season, body size, body condition (mass versus size), and anaemia (packed cell volume and mean corpuscular volume). We then conducted trials in the laboratory in which captive females were presented with visual and olfactory cues from two males simultaneously. In the field, males with a low mean corpuscular volume had the highest reproductive success. Captive females also showed a preference for males with low levels of anaemia based on mean corpuscular volume. These results suggest that females are employing a condition-dependent preference.