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Horn Growth and Reproduction in a Long-Lived Male Mammal: No Compensation for Poor Early-Life Horn Growth

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Abstract

Secondary sexual traits in males of polygynous species are important determinants of reproductive success. It is, however, unknown if and how the development of continuously growing traits at different life-stages is related to reproduction in long-lived male mammals. In this study, we evaluated the relationship of early and late horn growth on social status and reproduction in long-lived male Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). For this, we analysed individual horn growth and assessed its effect on dominance and reproduction. No evidence was detected for compensatory horn growth, as late-life horn growth positively depended on early-life horn growth in males. Still, individuals with longer horn segments grown during early adulthood experienced a stronger age-dependent length decline in annual horn growth during the late development. Accordingly, a divergence between individual growth potential and realized horn growth late in life has to be assumed. Residual age-specific horn length and length of early grown horn segments both positively affected dominance and reproductive success, whereas, contrary to our expectation, no significant effect of the length of horn segments grown during the late development was detected. Suspected higher somatic costs incurred by high-quality males during their late development might at least partly be responsible for this finding. Overall, our study suggests that the total length of horns and their early development in long-lived male Alpine ibex is a reliable indicator of reproductive success and that individuals may be unable to compensate for poor early-life growth performance at a later point in life.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J.-C. Roch, K. Bieri Willisch, T. Bucher, P. Decristophoris, P. Deleury, I. Glanzmann, N. Grandjean, C. Hebeisen, B. Hofer, U. Koller, I. Leathwood, H. Nimmervoll, B. Nussberger, L. Senn, C. Wittker, M. Pewsner, and numerous volunteers for their help with the captures, data collection and laboratory work. We are grateful to L. Keller, J. Hadfield, E. Postma and P. Wandeler for their assistance with genetic and statistical analyses. For valuable comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript we thank M. Festa-Bianchet, V. Hayssen and an anonymous referee. Many thanks go to the authorities of the Canton Vaud and the Swiss Federal Office of the Environment FOEN. The study was financed by the FOEN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    C. S. Willisch & I. Biebach

  2. Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Länggass-Strasse 122, 3001, Bern, Switzerland

    N. Marreros & M.-P. Ryser-Degiorgis

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    P. Neuhaus

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  1. C. S. Willisch
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Correspondence to C. S. Willisch.

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Willisch, C.S., Biebach, I., Marreros, N. et al. Horn Growth and Reproduction in a Long-Lived Male Mammal: No Compensation for Poor Early-Life Horn Growth. Evol Biol 42, 1–11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-014-9294-3

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