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Prevalence of multiple mating by female common dormice, Muscardinus avellanarius

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Abstract

Mating behaviour is an important component of species’ life histories. Knowledge of natural patterns of mating can lead also to more effective management strategies for populations of conservation concern. Despite a high conservation profile many aspects of the biology of the common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) remain unknown, potentially limiting present conservation efforts. We determine the mating behaviour of M. avellanarius at two woodland sites in the UK: (1) Bontuchel (a natural population in Wales) and (2) Wych (a population in England that was established by reintroducing captive-bred animals) by genotyping mothers and litters at a panel of 10 microsatellite loci. Adult female body weight positively correlates with litter size and no apparent reproductive skew was evident. We found that multiple mating by female dormice is prevalent at both sites, with litters containing three or more offspring sired by multiple fathers; moreover, multiple mating is adopted by released animals even after a period of captive breeding where females are mated singly or as a breeding pair. We also present evidence for low proportion of fathers identified in our samples that probably related to unsampled individuals and/or larger than anticipated population sizes. This first report of mating behaviour in M. avellanarius highlights the role of genetic studies to uncover species’ reproductive behaviours and include these data for conservation management.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all of the members of the Northwest Dormouse Partnership, particularly Sarah Bird, Scott Wilson, Rhian Hughes, Sue Tatman, Iolo Lloyd and the Forestry Commission, as well as all of the volunteers that have helped during survey work. This work was funded by Malaysian Government and Universiti Sains Malaysia for Academic Staff Training Scheme (ASTS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK

    Darlina Md. Naim, Stephen J. Kemp & Phillip C. Watts

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, Penang, Malaysia

    Darlina Md. Naim

  3. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

    Sandra Telfer

  4. North of England Zoological Society, Chester Zoo, Upton-by-Chester, CH2 1LH, UK

    Stephanie Sanderson

  5. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Box 30709, Nairobi, Kenya

    Stephen J. Kemp

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  1. Darlina Md. Naim
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  2. Sandra Telfer
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  4. Stephen J. Kemp
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  5. Phillip C. Watts
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Correspondence to Darlina Md. Naim.

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Naim, D.M., Telfer, S., Sanderson, S. et al. Prevalence of multiple mating by female common dormice, Muscardinus avellanarius . Conserv Genet 12, 971–979 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-011-0200-6

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