Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Secondary sexual characters signal fighting ability and determine social rank in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social dominance is a fundamental aspect of male evolutionary ecology in polygynous mammals because it determines access to estrous females. As it is rarely possible to monitor marked individuals of known morphology, little is known about the determinants of male dominance. We studied the social structure of Alpine ibex males in Gran Paradiso National Park, Italy in 2003, 2006, and 2007. Dominance interactions produced a linear social hierarchy. In ibex males, body mass and horn length are key traits in male-male combat, and both increase with age. We explored the links between age, body mass, horn length, and social rank. Ibex males showed much age-independent phenotypic heterogeneity and rapidly growing males reached high rank at a younger age than slow-growing males. Because there is no trade-off between horn growth and longevity, fast-growing males may face weak potential costs of rapid growth and high fitness benefit of achieving high rank. Violent interactions were more likely to occur between males similar in both mass and horn length, independently of age. We suggest that only high-quality individuals can afford a strategy of rapid growth for both secondary sexual characters, and likely reap substantial fitness benefits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvarez F (1990) Horns and fighting in male Spanish ibex, Capra pyrenaica. J Mammal 71:608–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersson M (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Apollonio M, Festa-Bianchet M, Mari F (1989) Correlates of copulatory success in a fallow deer lek. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 25:89–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrette C, Vandal D (1986) Social rank, dominance, antler size, and access to food in snow-bound wild woodland caribou. Behaviour 97:118–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bassano B, von Hardenberg A, Pelletier F, Gobbi G (2003) A method to weigh free-ranging ungulates without handling. Wildlife Soc B 31:1205–1209

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger J, Cunningham C (1991) Bellows copulations and sexual selection in bison (Bison bison). Behav Ecol 2:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron P (2007) Parallel lasers for remote measurements of morphological traits. J Wildl Manage 71:289–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergeron P, Festa-Bianchet M, Von Hardenberg A, Bassano B (2008) Heterogeneity in male horn growth and longevity in a highly sexually dimorphic ungulate. Oikos 117:77–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonenfant C, Pelletier F, Garel M, Bergeron P (2009) Age-dependent relationship between horn growth and survival in wild sheep. J Anim Ecol 78:161–171

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH (1982) The functions of antlers. Behaviour 79:109–125

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH (1989) Mammalian mating systems. Proc R Soc Lond B 236:339–372

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock T, Gibson RM, Guinness FE (1979) The logical stag: adaptive aspects of fighting in red deer (Cervus elaphus L.). Anim Behav 27:211–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock TH, Guinness FE, Albon SD (1982) Red deer: behavior and ecology of two sexes. University of Chicago, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Coltman DW, Festa-Bianchet M, Jorgenson JT, Strobeck C (2002) Age-dependent sexual selection in bighorn rams. Proc R Soc Lond B 269:165–172

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coltman DW, O’Donoghue P, Hogg JT, Festa-Bianchet M (2005) Selection and genetic (co)variance in bighorn sheep. Evolution 59:1372–1382

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Côté SD (2000a) Determining social rank in ungulates: a comparison of aggressive interactions recorded at a bait site and under natural conditions. Ethology 106:945–955

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Côté SD (2000b) Dominance hierarchies in female mountain goats: stability, aggressiveness and determinations of rank. Behaviour 137:1541–1566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries H (1995) An improved test of linearity in dominance hierarchies containing unknown or tied relationships. Anim Behav 50:1375–1389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries H (1998) Finding a dominance order most consistent with a linear hierarchy: a new procedure and review. Anim Behav 55:827–843

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Drews C (1993) The concept and definition of dominance in animal behaviour. Behaviour 125:283–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M (2007) Ecology, evolution, economics, and ungulate management. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M, Jorgenson JT, King WJ, Smith KG, Wishart WD (1996) The development of sexual dimorphism: seasonal and lifetime mass changes in bighorn sheep. Can J Zool 74:330–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Festa-Bianchet M, Coltman DW, Turelli L, Jorgenson JT (2004) Relative allocation to horn and body growth in bighorn rams varies with resource availability. Behav Ecol 15:305–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaillard JM, Festa-Bianchet M, Yoccoz NG, Loison A, Toigo C (2000) Temporal variation in fitness components and population dynamics of large herbivores. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 31:367–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist V (1966a) The evolution of horn-like organs. Behaviour 27:175–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Geist V (1966b) The evolutionary significance of mountain sheep horns. Evolution 20:558–566

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geist V (1971) Mountain sheep, a study in behaviour and evolution. The university of Chicago press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Grignolio S, Parrini F, Bassano B, Luccarini S, Apollonio M (2003) Habitat selection in adult males of Alpine ibex, Capra ibex ibex. Folia Zool 27:175–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Haley MP, Deutsch CJ, Leboeuf BJ (1994) Size dominance and copulatory success in male northern elephant seals Mirounga angustirostris. Anim Behav 48:1249–1260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hass CC, Jenni DA (1991) Structure and ontogeny of dominance relationships among bighorn rams. Can J Zool 69:471–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoem SA, Melis C, Linnell JDC, Andersen R (2007) Fighting behaviour in territorial male roe deer Capreolus capreolus: the effects of antler size and residence. Eur J Wildl Res 53:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogg JT, Forbes SH (1997) Mating in bighorn sheep: frequent male reproduction via a high-risk “unconventional” tactic. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 41:33–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown A, Brown JH (1984) Truth in advertising: the kinds of traits favored by sexual selection. Am Nat 124:309–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown A, Sibly RM, Brown JH (2006) The allometry of ornaments and weapons. Proc Natl Acad Sci 103:8733–8738

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Landau HG (1951) On dominance relations and the structure of animal societies: I. Effect of inherent characteristics. B Math Bioph 13:1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loison A, Festa-Bianchet M, Gaillard J-M, Jorgenson JT, Jullien J-M (1999a) Age-specific survival in five populations of ungulates: evidence of senescence. Ecology 80:2539–2554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loison A, Gaillard J-M, Pélabon C, Yoccoz NG (1999b) What factors shape sexual size dimorphism in ungulates? Evol Ecol Res 1:611–633

    Google Scholar 

  • Machlis L, Dodd PWD, Fentress JC (1985) The pooling fallacy: problems arising when individuals contribute more than one observation to the data set. Z Tierpsychol 68:201–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Malo AF, Roldan ERS, Garde J, Soler AJ, Gomendio M (2005) Antlers honestly advertise sperm production and quality. Proc R Soc Lond B 272:149–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McElligott AG, Mattiangeli V, Mattiello S, Verga M, Reynolds CA, Hayden TJ (1998) Fighting tactics of fallow bucks (Dama dama, Cervidae): reducing the risks of serious conflict. Ethology 104:789–803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McElligott AG, Gammel MP, Harty HC, Paini DR, Murphy DT, Walsh JT, Hayden TJ (2001) Sexual size dimorphism in fallow deer (Dama dama): do larger, heavier males gain greater reproductive success? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 49:266–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mysterud A, Meisingset E, Langvatn R, Yoccoz NG, Stenseth NC (2005) Climate-dependent allocation of resources to secondary sexual traits in red deer. Oikos 111:245–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nievergelt B (1966) Der Alpensteinbock (Capra ibex) in seinem Lebensraum. Verlag Paul Parey. Hamburg, Germany

  • Noldus Information Technology (2003) Matman: Reference Manual 1.1. Wageningen, The Netherlands

  • Parker GA (1974) Assessment strategy and the evolution of fighting behaviour. J Theor Biol 47:223–243

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parrini F, Cain JW, Krausman PR (2009) Capra ibex (Artiodactyla: Bovidae). Mamm sp 830:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F, Festa-Bianchet M (2004) Effects of body mass, age, dominance and parasite load on foraging time of bighorn rams, Ovis canadensis. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 56:546–551

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F, Festa-Bianchet M (2006) Sexual selection and social rank in bighorn rams. Anim Behav 71:649–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F, Bauman J, Festa-Bianchet M (2003) Fecal testosterone in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis): behavioural and endocrine correlates. Can J Zool 81:1678–1684

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier F, Réale D, Garant D, Coltman DW, Festa-Bianchet M (2007) Selection on heritable seasonal phenotypic plasticity of body mass. Evolution 61:1969–1979

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro JC, Bates DM (2000) Mixed effects models in S and S-Plus. Springer Verlag, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Preston BT, Stevenson IR, Pemberton JM, Coltman DW, Wilson K (2003) Overt and covert competition in a promiscuous mammal: the importance of weaponry and testes size to male reproductive success. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:633–640

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reznick D, Nunney L, Tessier A (2000) Big houses, big cars, superfleas and the cost of reproduction. Trends Ecol Evol 15:421–425

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson MR, Pilkington JG, Clutton-Brock TH, Pemberton JM, Kruuk LEB (2006) Live fast, die young: trade-offs between fitness components and sexually antagonistic selection on weaponry in soay sheep. Evolution 60:2168–2181

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schaller GB (1977) Mountain monarchs: wild sheep and goats of the Himalaya. University of Chicaco Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Shipley B (2009) Confirmatory path analysis in a generalized multilevel context. Ecology 90:363–368

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Short R, Balaban E (1994) The differences between the sexes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns SC (1992) The evolution of life histories. Oxford University Press

  • Stevenson IR, Bancroft DR (1995) Fluctuating trade-offs favour precocial maturity in male soay sheep. Proc R Soc Lond B 262:267–275

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Toïgo C, Gaillard J-M, Michallet J (1999) Cohort affects growth of males but not females in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex ibex). J Mamm 80:1021–1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toïgo C, Gaillard J-M, Festa-Bianchet M, Largo E, Michallet J, Maillard D (2007) Sex- and age-specific survival of the highly dimorphic Alpine ibex: evidence for a conservative life history tactic. J Anim Ecol 76:679–686

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Hooff JARAM, Wensing JAB (1987) Dominance and its behavioral measures in a captive wolf pack. In: Frank H (ed) Man and wolf. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 219–252

    Google Scholar 

  • van Noordwijk AJ, De Jong G (1986) Acquisition and allocation of resources: their influence on variation in life history tactics. Am Nat 128:137–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanpé C, Gaillard J-M, Kjellander P, Mysterud A, Magnien P, Delorme D, van Laere G, Klein F, Liberg O, Hewison AJM (2007) Antler size provides an honest signal of male phenotypic quality in roe deer. Am Nat 169:481–493

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • von Hardenberg A (2005) Sénescence, sélection sexuelle et dynamique de population du bouquetin des Alpes (Capra ibex). PhD Thesis. Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, pp 206

  • von Hardenberg A, Bassano B, del Pilar Zumel Arranz M, Bogliani G (2004) Horn growth but not asymmetry heralds the onset of senescence in male Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). J Zool Lond 263:425–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weladji RB, Holand Ø, Steinheim G, Colman JE, Gjøstein H, Kosmo A (2005) Sexual dimorphism and intercohort variation in reindeer calf antler length is associated with density and weather. Oecologia 145:549–555

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank B. Bassano, L. Jocollé, and A. von Hardenberg for capturing ibex; the Park wardens, J.-S. Babin, X. Francoeur, G. Szor, M. Landini, and S. Pighetti for help in the field. Constructive comments from D. Garant, J. Martin, and the two referees greatly improved this manuscript. We also thank I. Rossi and T. Monti for collaboration in the data collection and management. Our experimental protocol was approved by the Université de Sherbrooke Animal Care Committee (Protocol MFB07), which adheres to the guidelines of the Canadian Council on Animal Care. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (scholarship to P. B. and research grant to M. F.-B.) provided financial support and GPNP provided logistical support and financial support (research grant to S. G. and M. A.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, PQ, J1K2R1, Canada

    Patrick Bergeron, Bill Shipley & Marco Festa-Bianchet

  2. Dipartimento di zoologia e genetica evoluzionistica, University of Sassari, via Muroni 25, Sassari, 07100, Italy

    Stefano Grignolio & Marco Apollonio

Authors
  1. Patrick Bergeron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stefano Grignolio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marco Apollonio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bill Shipley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marco Festa-Bianchet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick Bergeron.

Additional information

Communicated by P. Banks

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOC 76 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bergeron, P., Grignolio, S., Apollonio, M. et al. Secondary sexual characters signal fighting ability and determine social rank in Alpine ibex (Capra ibex). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 1299–1307 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0944-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0944-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation