澳大利亞麥考瑞大學(xué)近日發(fā)表在《動(dòng)物生態(tài)學(xué)》雜志上的一項(xiàng)研究稱,，雄性海豚形成“組合”更易和異性交配成功,。研究還發(fā)現(xiàn)，組成一個(gè)聯(lián)盟的雄海豚比那些在更小群體里生活或單獨(dú)行動(dòng)的雄海豚生育的孩子多得多,。研究者研究了生活在澳大利亞新南威爾士斯蒂芬斯港口的70只雄性及64只雌性印度洋—太平洋地區(qū)的寬吻海豚,。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，14只不同的雄海豚共生育了32只幼崽,，其中13只是由一個(gè)由4只雄海豚組成的被稱為“披頭士”的聯(lián)盟誕下的,。“這項(xiàng)研究顯示，雄海豚需要彼此協(xié)作來使它們的生殖成功率最大化,。”研究報(bào)告的作者之一Jo Wiszniewski介紹說,，“雄性結(jié)盟可以更好地控制雌性。我們?？吹叫酆ｋ嗲昂笞笥噎h(huán)繞雌海豚游動(dòng),，雌性無法逃脫它們。雄海豚群體盡力使雌海豚遠(yuǎn)離別的雄性,。”（生物谷 Bioon.com）
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01910.x
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Male reproductive success increases with alliance size in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)
Wiszniewski, Joanna; Corrigan, Shannon; Beheregaray, Luciano B.; Möller, Luciana M.
Keywords:alternative reproductive strategies;cetaceans;coalitions;cooperation;paternity analysis relatedness;socialitySummary1. Determining the extent of variation in male mating strategies and reproductive success is necessary to understand the fitness benefits of social and cooperative behaviour.2. This study assesses the reproductive success of male Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphins in a small embayment population where different behavioural strategies of males have previously been identified. Parentage for 44 sampled calves was examined using 23 microsatellite loci and one mitochondrial DNA marker. Our candidate parent pool of 70 males and 64 females contained individuals sampled from both the embayment and adjacent coastal populations.3. A moderate level of polygyny was detected in our sample. We assigned paternity of 23 calves to 12 males at the strict 95% confidence level and an additional nine calves to two males at the 80% confidence level. The majority (92%) of successful males were identified as residents to the embayment, and 46% of offspring were located within the same social group or community as their father.4. Our results suggest that the size of alliances was the best predictor of reproductive success for males in this population, while the strength of association among allied males, alliance stability and male ranging patterns had little influence. In line with predictions for male alliances formed between unrelated individuals, we found that reproductive skew within alliances was not large.5. Together, our genetic and behavioural analyses demonstrate that alliance formation between male dolphins is a successful strategy to enhance reproductive output.
