Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Australian Journal of Zoology Australian Journal of Zoology Society
Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > ZO > ZO09092
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(2)

The genetic mating system, male reproductive success and lack of selection on male traits in the greater bilby

Emily J. Miller A B E , Mark D. B. Eldridge C , Neil Thomas D , Nicola Marlow D and Catherine A. Herbert A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia.

B Current address: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia.

C Molecular Biology, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.

D Department of Environment and Conservation, PO Box 51, Wanneroo, WA 6946, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: emily.miller@sydney.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 58(2) 113-120 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO09092
Submitted: 7 September 2009  Accepted: 14 May 2010   Published: 28 June 2010

Abstract

The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is the sole remaining species of desert bandicoot on the Australian mainland. The mating system of this species remains poorly understood, due to the bilby’s cryptic nature. We investigated the genetic mating system of the greater bilby in a five-year study of a semi-free-ranging captive population that simulated their wild environment. Morphological traits were examined to determine whether these influenced patterns of male reproductive success and whether selection was acting on them. In any given year more than half the males (59.2 ± 9.3%) failed to sire any offspring. Approximately 70% of sires fathered one offspring, and 30% two or three offspring. Since paternity was not dominated by few males, and given the species’ solitary nature, lack of territoriality and large home ranges, it is likely that males adopt a roving strategy to find receptive females. These results are consistent with an overlap promiscuous mating system. Sires and non-sires could not be distinguished by their morphological traits, and there was no evidence for strong linear or non-linear selection on male traits. These data increase our understanding of bandicoot life-history traits and will assist conservation and management efforts.

Additional keywords: captive breeding, conservation, Macrotis lagotis, male morphology, selection analysis.


Acknowledgements

We thank Brian MacMahon, Martin Clarke and Howard Robinson (DEC, WA); State Trustees M. A. Ingram Trust; Molecular Ecology and Evolution Laboratory (UNSW); Jennifer Sinclair, Russell Bonduriansky, Rob Brooks, Clare Holleley; and Susi Zajitschek and Angela Moles for comments that greatly improved this manuscript. We also thank Angela Higgins (Ramaciotti Centre, UNSW). All experimental work carried out was approved by the Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia, under the approval numbers 2003/36, 2006/24 and 2009/46.


References

Ambs, S. M. , Boness, D. J. , Bowen, W. D. , Perry, E. A. , and Fleischer, R. C. (1999). Proximate factors associated with high levels of extraconsort fertilisation in polygynous grey seals. Animal Behaviour 58, 527–535.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Andersson M. (1994). ‘Sexual Selection.’ (Princeton University Press: New Jersey.)

Arnold, S. J. , and Wade, M. J. (1984). On the measurement of natural and sexual selection: applications. Evolution 38, 720–734.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Birkhead T. R. (2000). ‘Promiscuity: An Evolutionary History of Sperm Competition and Sexual Conflict.’ (Faber and Faber Limited: London.)

Blows, M. W. , and Brooks, R. (2003). Measuring nonlinear selection. American Naturalist 162, 815–820.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | Frankham R. , Ballou J. D. , and Briscoe D. A. (2002). ‘Introduction to Conservation Genetics.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Hood G. M. (2008). PopTools version 3.0.3. Available at http://www.cse.csiro.au/poptools

Hoogland, J. L. , and Foltz, D. W. (1982). Variance in male and female reproductive success in a harem-polygynous mammal, the black-tailed prairie dog (Sciuridae: Cynomys ludovicianus). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 11, 155–163.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | IUCN (2006). 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at www.iucnredlist.org

Jarman, P. J. (1983). Mating system and sexual dimorphism in large, terrestrial mammalian herbivores. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 58, 485–520.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Lee A. K. , and Cockburn A. (1985). ‘The Evolutionary Ecology of Marsupials.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)

Luque-Larena, J. J. , López, P. , and Gosálbez, J. (2004). Spacing behaviour and morphology predict promiscuous mating strategies in the rock-dwelling snow vole, Chionomys nivalis. Canadian Journal of Zoology 82, 1051–1060.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Strahan R. (2002). ‘The Mammals of Australia.’ (Reed New Holland: Sydney.)

Sunnucks, P. , and Hales, D. (1996). Numerous transposed sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I–II in aphids of the genus Sitobion (Hemiptera: Aphidae). Molecular Ecology 13, 510–524.
|  CAS | Wittenberger J. F. (1979). The evolution of mating systems in birds and mammals. In ‘Handbook of Behavioral Neurobiology’. (Eds P. Marler and J. G. Vandenbergh.) pp. 271–349. (Plenum: New York.)

Worthington Wilmer, J. , Allen, P. J. , Pomeroy, P. P. , Twiss, S. D. , and Amos, W. (1999). Where have all the fathers gone? An extensive microsatellite analysis of paternity in the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). Molecular Ecology 8, 1417–1429.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed |