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When males live longer: Resource-driven territorial behavior drives sex-specific survival in snakes.

ABSTRACT: Phylogenetic analysis has shown that males' propensity to engage in aggressive encounters is associated with females having greater longevity. Here, we confirm the causal link between aggression and reduced longevity by looking at an egg-eating snake (Oligodon formosanus) in which females defend territories in the presence of sea turtle eggs. We monitored aggressiveness and survival at two sites: a control site with a stable supply of turtle eggs, and a second site where we collected data before and after a storm that eroded the beach on which turtles nested, thus leading to a loss of territoriality. We show that territoriality was the driver behind higher injury rates in females. Territorial females also had lower survival and decreased longevity compared with the nonterritorial males, but these differences disappeared when females were not territorial. Our study demonstrates how resource availability can influence the evolution of sex-specific patterns of survival across vertebrates.

SUBMITTER: Lee CY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6482014 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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When males live longer: Resource-driven territorial behavior drives sex-specific survival in snakes.

Lee Chi-Ying CY Pike David A DA Tseng Hui-Yun HY Hsu Jung-Ya JY Huang Shiang-Lin SL Shaner Pei-Jen L PL Liao Chen-Pan CP Manica Andrea A Huang Wen-San WS

Science advances 20190424 4

Phylogenetic analysis has shown that males' propensity to engage in aggressive encounters is associated with females having greater longevity. Here, we confirm the causal link between aggression and reduced longevity by looking at an egg-eating snake (<i>Oligodon formosanus</i>) in which females defend territories in the presence of sea turtle eggs. We monitored aggressiveness and survival at two sites: a control site with a stable supply of turtle eggs, and a second site where we collected data ...[more]

PMID: 31032398

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Many species of social insects have large-scale mating and dispersal flights and their populations are therefore often relatively homogenous. In contrast, dispersal on the wing appears to be uncommon in most species of the ant genus Cardiocondyla, because its males are wingless and the winged queens mate in their natal nests before dispersing on foot. Here we examine the population structure of C. venustula from South Africa. This species is of particular interest for the analysis of life history evolution in Cardiocondyla, as it occupies a phylogenetic position between tropical species with multi-queen (polygynous) colonies and fighting males and a Palearctic clade with single-queen colonies and mutually peaceful males. Males of C. venustula exhibit an intermediate strategy between lethal fighting and complete tolerance - they mostly engage in non-lethal fights and defend small territories inside their natal nests. We investigated how this reproductive behavior influences colony and population structure by analyzing samples on two geographic scales in South Africa: a small 40?×?40m2 plot and a larger area with distances up to 5?km between sampling sites in Rietvlei Nature Reserve near Pretoria. RESULTS:Colonies were found to be facultatively polygynous and queens appear to mate only with a single male. The extraordinarily high inbreeding coefficient suggests regular sib-mating. Budding by workers and young queens is the predominant mode of colony-founding and leads to high population viscosity. In addition, some queens appear to found colonies independently or through adoption into foreign nests. CONCLUSION:While C. venustula resembles tropical Cardiocondyla in queen number and mating frequency, it differs by the absence of winged disperser males. Dispersal by solitary, mated queens on foot or by short flights and their adoption by alien colonies might promote gene flow between colonies and counteract prolonged inbreeding. The abundance of suitable habitat and the high density of nests facilitate the spread of this species by budding and together with the apparent resistance against inbreeding make it a highly successful pioneer species and invader of degraded and man-made habitats.

Dataset Information

When males live longer: Resource-driven territorial behavior drives sex-specific survival in snakes.

Publications

When males live longer: Resource-driven territorial behavior drives sex-specific survival in snakes.

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