Animals signalling at high intensity incur costs in terms of reduced growth and asymptotic size which in turn affect an individual s ability to retain social dominance. Alternative mating tactics are being investigated and fitness pay-offs will be determined by paternity analysis of offspring. We are testing the idea that signalling costs predict mate choice and aim to investigate the relative importance of relatedness and sexual imprinting in mate choice using MHC-congenic mouse strains.
Olfaction appears to be important during encounters between territorial male bontebok.
Here one male smells another while it defaecates on a dung pile. Oxford University Press. The alternative mating strategies of male topi, Damiliscus lunatus. Scent-rubbing and status signalling by male mammals. Ethics in research on animal behaviour.