"LTREB: Impacts of polyandry over the lifetime of a social mammal"

University Of Maryland Center For Environmental Sciences, Cambridge MD

Investigators

Abstract

Mating involves costs such as increased exposure to diseases and parasites, and a female usually obtains all the sperm she needs from a single mating. Paradoxically, however, polyandry (i.e., mating with multiple males) is ubiquitous among animals of all types. Longterm research with prairie dogs has revealed that reproductive success (RS) is higher for polyandrous females than for monandrous females. To investigate the costs and benefits of polyandry, researchers from The University of Maryland will perform a manipulative field experiment that will compare monandry versus polyandry for female prairie dogs matched for age, body mass, colony size, and the adult sex ratio. This comprehensive experiment will be the most detailed examination of polyandry to date for a mammal living under natural conditions. The researchers will use two innovations, ultrasounds and remote-controlled serpentine robots (snakebots), to count offspring at previously un-observable portions of the life-history. Further, they will capitalize on a powerful combination of behavioral observations of matings with molecular analyses of paternity to investigate genetic mechanisms by which polyandry might enhance female RS. This longterm research of polyandry under natural conditions will have sweeping consequences for our understanding of several key issues in Animal Behavior, including mate choice, generation and maintenance of genetic diversity, sexual selection, and population viability. Broader impacts include training 8 undergraduates per year, many of whom will be under-represented minorities; a Critter-Cam, which will enable amateur and professional biologists to view live interactions among marked prairie dogs; assistance to 5 organizations working to conserve prairie dogs; lectures to pre-K through high school students; 2 websites with information about prairie dogs; and frequent radio and television shows about prairie dogs. Data Management Behavioral and genetic data will be stored and available to the general public in databases such as the DRYAD data repository (http://datadryad.org/) and NCBI Genbank (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/).