ritchie-adaptivebiases-2002.pdf (98.67 kB)
Adaptive biases in offspring sex ratios established before birth in a marsupial, the common brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula
Offspring sex ratios in the common brushtail possum are male biased in many populations, and there is evidence that inter-population differences in sex ratios represent adaptive responses to local conditions. However, how these biases are produced is not known. Using comparisons between populations with and without biased offspring sex ratios, we show that biases in this species are not produced by sex-differential mortality between birth and weaning or sex-selective termination of pregnancy. Rather, adjustment in the sex ratio of offspring are evidently due to shifts in the probability of conceiving male and female offspring.
History
Journal
Behavioral ecologyVolume
13Issue
5Pagination
653 - 656Publisher
Oxford University PressLocation
Oxford, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
1045-2249Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2002, International Society for Behavioral EcologyUsage metrics
Categories
Keywords
brushtail possumslocal resource competitionMarsupialiaprimary sex ratiosex ratio mechanismsTrichosurus vulpeculaScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineBehavioral SciencesBiologyEcologyZoologyLife Sciences & Biomedicine - Other TopicsEnvironmental Sciences & EcologyCOMPETITIONADJUSTMENTPRIMATEMAMMALSEvolutionary BiologyZoologyEcology
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC