Homebody Male Hyenas Enjoy As Many Reproductive Advantages As Dispersers: Study
Male animals are called "losers" if they do not join another group for breeding. Unlike what people believe, experts from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, Germany, discovered that "stay-at-home male spotted hyenas" could breed as well as enterprising animals that just move away from home.
The spotted hyena groups are part of matriarchal social groups, with females having total control over mating. Hence, females can choose which males have to father their young. Thus, young female hyenas like to choose males that were born or joined the group after they themselves came into the world. This helps them stave off "incestuous breeding" with fathers or elder brothers.
While males moving away from home to breed in other regions are thought to be the fathers of more children, experts confirm that homebody, or philopatric males and males that move away are not too different, and show similar reproductive success.
The choice of leaving or staying with the group is influenced by the fitness prospects of the clans. Hence, when a group is composed of the youngest females, when a male begins to breed, he can enhance his chances of fathering cubs.
Researchers studied eight specific clans in an entire population of spotted hyenas residing in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater. Studying the behavior, survival and reproductive success of 250 males helped the researchers to identify the reasons and "fitness consequences of male clan choice."
Hyena males in the Ngorongoro Crater tended to move away to other clans, but many more stayed at home than expected, as being homebodies had its plus points.
"Mothers provide social support to their stay-home sons and ensure they acquire a high social rank among breeding males. This gives the mama's boys privileged access to both food and females, allowing them to invest a lot of time consorting females," explained Eve Davidian, a doctorate candidate from the IZW.
Their study was published in the March 18,2016 issue of the journal Science Advances.
