8 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: …excuse me sir?
I don't know enough about rat and rodent behavior, and the Bruce effect is primarily studied in that group. My knowledge is focused on carnivores. I agree with your friend in the case of lions and geladas (if the same effect exists in those species). Female lions already give birth alone and hunt for their young for a few weeks until rejoining the pride. That's a lot of energy to expend on cubs who won't survive.
Considering the effect is correlated with polygynous species (dominant male with multiple females) with a higher risk of infanticide, it doesn't sound like this is a "better" male, but a way to lower the risk to the female of her offspring being killed.
I'm asking if there is a species where the female determines a new male is a "better" parent to her offspring and intentionally miscarries. Where she identifies she now has "genetically superior seed" available and terminates a viable pregnancy?
Comment by mime454 at 26/04/2022 at 13:25 UTC*
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I mean it’s really about interpretation and the story you choose to tell about it. You can talk about it through parental investment like you have and I did above or you could make a “good genes” argument for it. That one would go like “in a species that regularly kills sexual rivals for territory or mating access, it is better to have your genetic fitness tied with winner males rather than the males they killed.”
The only story that is objectively true is “genes for this behavior spread in the gene pool of certain species”. The genes weren’t narrativizing, they were just replicating.
I’m personally not aware of any species that has like a quality meter for sperm and aborts her current babies if she detects better sperm. If you were looking for it, I think you’d be most likely to find it in a species where males are highly sexually selected and females only reproduce once in their lifetimes. There are male spiders that actually eject their “penis” into the female as a plug to prevent future matings so I imagine that female strategy must at least be under some selective pressure if males are going through such extreme lengths to prevent it. I can’t find any papers that suggests spiders do this, but it would make perfect sense for some of them to. It even would explain why males have to present a nuptial gift (food) and she makes a decision whether to mate. She could use the gift to make a new set of eggs if it contained enough energy.