Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?

Variation in the effect of male body size on mating success was studied in natterjack toads during two breeding seasons with different temporal patterns of reproductive activity. Larger males were more likely to mate than small males in the season with a single peak and continuous breeding activity,...

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Author: Tejedo, Miguel
Format: article
Publication Date:1992
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/56955
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/56955
Access Level:Open access
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spelling Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?Tejedo, MiguelVariation in the effect of male body size on mating success was studied in natterjack toads during two breeding seasons with different temporal patterns of reproductive activity. Larger males were more likely to mate than small males in the season with a single peak and continuous breeding activity, whereas random mating by size was found when reproduction occurred during several peaks separated by periods of inactivity. Playback tests did not reveal any consistent preference by females for call variables related to male body size other than call intensity. Moreover, direct observation of pair formation resulting from capture of females by non-calling males (searchers and satellites) suggested that most females did not have the opportunity to make any choice. Direct male-male competition for females already in amplexus was negligible as suggested by the low rate of take-over success. Body size advantage occurred indirectly through a positive correlation with chorus attendance. One hypothesis is that smaller males may attend the breeding site less frequently because of energy limitations. Energetic constraints may arise in the long term, affecting the energy that should be allocated to growth, which is higher in small males, or in the short term, affecting the capacity for sustained chorus attendance. Growth rate was not correlated with chorus attendance. However, smaller males lost weight more rapidly in both seasons. This might explain why they had a lower attendance rate than larger males, giving rise to a higher mating success in the latter.Peer ReviewedAcademic Press2012201219922012info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501http://hdl.handle.net/10261/56955reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Inglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/569552026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
title Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
spellingShingle Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
Tejedo, Miguel
title_short Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
title_full Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
title_fullStr Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
title_full_unstemmed Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
title_sort Large male mating advantage in natterjack toads, Bufo calamita: Sexual selection or energetic constraints?
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Tejedo, Miguel
author Tejedo, Miguel
author_facet Tejedo, Miguel
author_role author
description Variation in the effect of male body size on mating success was studied in natterjack toads during two breeding seasons with different temporal patterns of reproductive activity. Larger males were more likely to mate than small males in the season with a single peak and continuous breeding activity, whereas random mating by size was found when reproduction occurred during several peaks separated by periods of inactivity. Playback tests did not reveal any consistent preference by females for call variables related to male body size other than call intensity. Moreover, direct observation of pair formation resulting from capture of females by non-calling males (searchers and satellites) suggested that most females did not have the opportunity to make any choice. Direct male-male competition for females already in amplexus was negligible as suggested by the low rate of take-over success. Body size advantage occurred indirectly through a positive correlation with chorus attendance. One hypothesis is that smaller males may attend the breeding site less frequently because of energy limitations. Energetic constraints may arise in the long term, affecting the energy that should be allocated to growth, which is higher in small males, or in the short term, affecting the capacity for sustained chorus attendance. Growth rate was not correlated with chorus attendance. However, smaller males lost weight more rapidly in both seasons. This might explain why they had a lower attendance rate than larger males, giving rise to a higher mating success in the latter.
publishDate 1992
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 1992
2012
2012
2012
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/56955
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/56955
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Academic Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Academic Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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