MATING TACTICS OF MALE CAPE GROUND-SQUIRRELS, XERUS-INAURIS - CONSEQUENCES OF YEAR-ROUND BREEDING

The Cape ground squirrel is;a highly social, tropical ground squirrel that does not hibernate, suggesting that female receptivity could be s cattered throughout the year. Males in this species are very:social, l iving in all-male bands. I studied the mating tactics of male Cape gro und squirrels to examine the effects of year-round female receptivity and male grouping on these tactics and on the degree of. intrasexual c ompetition. Female breeding was highly irregular and unpredictable, an d the average operational sex ratio during oestrus was 10:1 (males to females). However, the predicted high rates of aggression were not obs erved. Instead, competition among males was manifested by competitive searching, repeated-copulations and disruptions of copulations: Domina nt males had more copulations with more females, first: access to fema les and were more likely to copulate below-ground where-disruptions we re;unlikely to occur. I conclude that the mating-patterns of males in this species are a product of the asynchrony of female oestrus, year-r ound breeding and the survival benefits of grouping: (C) 1998 The Asso ciation for the Study of Animal Behaviour.