Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better

In ungulates, rank order is determined by differences in weight, body size, weapon size and age. In the Caprini tribe (Bovidae: Caprinae), adult male Himalayan tahr are unique to show different coat colours, but no sexual dimorphism in weapons. A highly significant correlation between hair colour and rank order was found during the rut: males with a lighter coloured ruff dominated over darker ruffed ones, in both aggressive interactions and access to oestrus females. We studied colour-based dominance in relation to weight, age and testosterone levels, which establish the social rank in most ungulates. No differences in weight and testosterone concentrations were found between adult male colour classes, but males with paler ruffs were significantly younger than darker adult males. The distribution of physical traumas from fights confirmed that younger, lighter-coloured males had a higher rank than older, darker males, a pattern which is unusual amongst ungulates. Coat colour seems to work as a signal of rank in male-male aggressive interactions and it changes according to age, whereas the relevant physiological determinants deserve further research. Intrasexual male competition has not changed weapon size or shape in the Himalayan tahr, but ruff colours are apparently used to signal rank and dominance. Colour patterns of adult males may then be homologous to ritualised weapons, apparently being a unique feature of male tahr amongst mammals.

Citation proposal
Sandro Lovari (University of Siena - Department of Environmental Science) - Bernardo Pellizzi (University of Siena - Department of Environmental Science) - Roberto Boesi (University of Siena - Department of Environmental Science) - L. Fusani () (2008) . Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better. https://geoportal.mountaingenius.org/geonetwork/srv/api/records/5a02c77b-7c44-4374-81fe-7033ad870d79

Simple

Alternate title

Date ( Publication ): 2008-12-14T00:00:00

Edition

Presentation form: Hardcopy document

Presentation form: Digital document

Other citation details: Behavioural Processes 2009, 81:20-25.

Collective title

ISBN

ISSN

Purpose

Author

University of Siena - Department of Environmental Science - Sandro Lovari (Professor )

Via T. Pendola, 62 Siena SI 53100 Italy

+39 0577233501

+39 0577233515

Author

University of Siena - Department of Environmental Science - Bernardo Pellizzi ( )

Via T. Pendola, 62 Siena Si 53100 Italy

Author

University of Siena - Department of Environmental Science - Roberto Boesi ( )

Via T. Pendola, 62 Siena SI 53100 Italy

Author

- L. Fusani ( )

Maintenance and update frequency: As needed

Keywords ( Theme )

Coat colour , Age , Hormones , Rank order

Keywords ( Place )

Pangboche , Namche Bazaar , Sagarmatha National Park

Access constraints: Copyright

Use constraints: Copyright

Other constraints

Spatial representation type: Vector

Metadata language: eng

Character set: UTF8

Topic category

Environment

Reference system identifier: WGS 1984

OnLine resource: Abstract:"Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better."
Abstract:"Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better."

OnLine resource: science.pdf
Full Text(pdf):""Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better."

Protocol: OGC:WMS-1.1.1-http-get-map

Name

Description

OnLine resource: Full text:" “Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better.”
Full text:" “Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better.”

Hierarchy level: Series

Dataset

Statement

“Mating dominance amongst male Himalayan tahr: blonds do better.”

Authors:Lovari S, Pellizzi B, Boesi R, Fusani L.

Department of Environmental Sciences, Research Unit of Behavioural Ecology, Ethology and Wildlife Management, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. lovari@unisi.it

Source: Behav Processes. 2009 May;81(1):20-5. Epub 2008 Dec 14.