Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.

Promiscuous mating strategies are much more common than previously appreciated. So much so, that several authors have proposed that promiscuity is the "rule" rather than the exception in vertebrate mating systems. Decreasing species mobility and increasing habitat fragmentation have both b...

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Autores principales:	Jonathan N Pauli, M Zachariah Peery
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/49269e3800834fde963d5f2325036f7e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:49269e3800834fde963d5f2325036f7e2021-11-18T08:04:34ZUnexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0051389https://doaj.org/article/49269e3800834fde963d5f2325036f7e2012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23284687/pdf/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Promiscuous mating strategies are much more common than previously appreciated. So much so, that several authors have proposed that promiscuity is the "rule" rather than the exception in vertebrate mating systems. Decreasing species mobility and increasing habitat fragmentation have both been suggested to reduce the "polygyny potential" of the environment and promote other mating strategies like promiscuity in females. We explored the social and genetic mating system for one of the most sedentary extant mammals, the brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus), within a highly fragmented Neotropical habitat. Surprisingly, we found that three-toed sloths were strongly polygynous, with males excluding male competitors from their core ranges, and exhibiting strong reproductive skew. Indeed, only 25% of all resident adult males sired offspring and one individual sired half of all sampled juveniles. Paradoxically, a sedentary life-history strategy seems to facilitate polygyny in fragmented landscapes because multiple females can persist within small patches of habitat, and be monopolized by a single male. Our work demonstrates that strong polygyny can arise in systems in which the polygyny potential should be extremely low, and other strategies, including promiscuity, would be favoured. Mating systems can be influenced by a multitude of factor and are dynamic, varying among taxa, over time, and across habitats; consequently, mating systems remain difficult to predict based on general ecological principles.Jonathan N PauliM Zachariah PeeryPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 12, p e51389 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Jonathan N Pauli M Zachariah Peery Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
description	Promiscuous mating strategies are much more common than previously appreciated. So much so, that several authors have proposed that promiscuity is the "rule" rather than the exception in vertebrate mating systems. Decreasing species mobility and increasing habitat fragmentation have both been suggested to reduce the "polygyny potential" of the environment and promote other mating strategies like promiscuity in females. We explored the social and genetic mating system for one of the most sedentary extant mammals, the brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus), within a highly fragmented Neotropical habitat. Surprisingly, we found that three-toed sloths were strongly polygynous, with males excluding male competitors from their core ranges, and exhibiting strong reproductive skew. Indeed, only 25% of all resident adult males sired offspring and one individual sired half of all sampled juveniles. Paradoxically, a sedentary life-history strategy seems to facilitate polygyny in fragmented landscapes because multiple females can persist within small patches of habitat, and be monopolized by a single male. Our work demonstrates that strong polygyny can arise in systems in which the polygyny potential should be extremely low, and other strategies, including promiscuity, would be favoured. Mating systems can be influenced by a multitude of factor and are dynamic, varying among taxa, over time, and across habitats; consequently, mating systems remain difficult to predict based on general ecological principles.
format	article
author	Jonathan N Pauli M Zachariah Peery
author_facet	Jonathan N Pauli M Zachariah Peery
author_sort	Jonathan N Pauli
title	Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
title_short	Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
title_full	Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
title_fullStr	Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
title_full_unstemmed	Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
title_sort	unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/49269e3800834fde963d5f2325036f7e
work_keys_str_mv	AT jonathannpauli unexpectedstrongpolygynyinthebrownthroatedthreetoedsloth AT mzachariahpeery unexpectedstrongpolygynyinthebrownthroatedthreetoedsloth
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Unexpected strong polygyny in the brown-throated three-toed sloth.

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