COURTSHIP AND BEHAVIORAL MATURATION OF MALE MOUFLONS

This study fails to find qualitative differences in courtship (ie intr a- and intersexual interactions), according to male age in mouflon Ovi s gmelini musimon (Pallas, 1811). Conversely, clear age differences ar ose concerning the proportion of time males dedicated to reproductive and non-reproductive activities. During the rut, males spent less time feeding, and more time scanning and in male-male interactions as age increased. Young males (less than or equal to 2 years old) interacted much less agonistically with other males and courted females twice les s than oldest males (greater than or equal to 7 years old). So male be havioral maturation does not only depend on age but could also be infl uenced by demographic constraints, ie presence of old dominant males. The male reproductive effort, however, seemed independent of the prese nce of old dominant males, which could reflect a developmental constra int. Young males would not have enough energy reserves because of grow th to dedicate as much time as mature males to reproduction, even in t he absence of these latter.