Life history costs of olfactory status signalling in mice

Large body size confers a competitive advantage in animal contests but does not always determine the outcome. Here we explore the trade-off between sh ortterm achievement of high social status and longer-term life history cost s in animals which vary in competitive ability. Using laboratory mice, Mus musculus, as a model system, we show that small competitors can initially m aintain dominance over larger males by increasing investment in olfactory s tatus signalling (scent-marking), but only at the cost of reduced growth ra te and body size. As a result they become more vulnerable to dominance reve rsals later in life. Our results also provide the first empirical informati on about life history costs of olfactory status signals.