DOI: 10.5061/dryad.18931zd3x
title: Data from: Mating tactic influences body condition loss in Rocky Mountain bighorn rams (Ovis canadensis)

description: In polygynous mating systems, males often employ alternative mating
 tactics to enhance reproductive success. In Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep,
 the primary tactics are coursing, involving mating chases, and tending,
 involving mate guarding. While both tactics are energetically costly and
 can diminish body condition, it remains unclear whether the associated
 costs significantly differ and to what extent. Our study investigated the
 impact of mating tactics, specifically the proportion of time allocated to
 each, on body condition loss during the rutting season in bighorn sheep.
 Using a non-invasive photographic method to estimate body condition loss,
 we found that the proportion of time a male spent tending significantly
 correlated with body condition loss. In contrast, the percentage of time
 spent coursing did not show a significant effect. Age was associated with
 the choice of tactic, with younger males predominantly coursing, older
 males primarily tending, and some intermediate-aged males employing both
 tactics concurrently. Despite the higher energetic costs, our results
 reveal the flexibility in tactic usage and indicate that tending, while
 demanding, is a high-cost, high-gain strategy, as tending rams are known
 to sire more offspring.
description: # Data from: Mating tactic influences body condition loss in Rocky
 Mountain bighorn rams (Ovis canadensis) ## Description of the data and
 file structure The data is freely available in the Ram_condition.csv file.
 The column headers are explained below: ID= Identity of individual Age=
 Age of individual %Tending= % of days spent tending a ewe %Coursing= % of
 days spent coursing %Blocking= % of days spent blocking ewes %SIE= % of
 days spent following special interest ewe (SIE) HF_ave= The length of the
 hindfoot SA_prerut= the haunch surface are measured in the pre-rut
 SA_postrut= the haunch surface area measured in the postrut SA_diff= the
 difference in the hanuch surface area measurements between the rpre- and
 postrut %diffSA= percent difference in the huanch surface area
 SA_prerut_condition= the initial condition measurment
 SA_postrut_condition= the final condition measurmeent
 resid_SA_age_condition= the residual haunch surface area condition
 corrected for age days between= number of days between the pre-rut and
 postrut hanuch condition measurments ## Sharing/Access information The
 dataset is here: Li, Raymond; Henry, Tanisha C.; Neuhaus, Peter;
 Ruckstuhl, Kathreen (Forthcoming 2024). Data from: Mating tactic
 influences body condition loss in Rocky Mountain bighorn rams (Ovis
 canadensis) [Dataset]. Dryad.
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.18931zd3x](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.18931zd3x) ## Code/Software All analyses and data visualizations were generated in RStudio version 4.3.2. The R code is found in the file named: Ramond-script2024-new.R All details of the statistical approaches are descriped therein. ## Changes to the original dataset We added an initial body condition index controlled by age, and number of days between when pictures were taken as fixed effects in the analysis.