Definition
Post-copulatory scenario in which the sperm of males of polygamous species competes within the female genital tract to fertilize the oocyte.
Introduction
In many non-primate mammalian species, females may mate with more than one male. According to the sperm competition theory, the reproductive success of the males of such species depends on both the magnitude of inter-male rivalry and covert sperm competition. When the ejaculates of two or more males must compete to fertilize a set of ova, the quality of the sperm they carry becomes of great importance. The transfer of large numbers of spermatozoa in competitive situations is an effective strategy; males that transfer more sperm per ejaculate, or who copulate more often, are more likely to sire offspring. Usually, males of polygamous species have large testes and produce ejaculates with many sperm cells....
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Asa, C., Esparza-Harris, K., Bauman, K., & Callahan, M. (2016). Ratios of testis volume to body size in monogamous gray wolves (Canis lupus) and promiscuous dogs (C. l. familiaris). Proceedings of the international symposium on canine and feline reproduction (p. 35). Paris.
Gomendio, M., & Roldan, E. R. S. (1991). Sperm competition influences sperm size in mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 243, 181–185.
Malo, A. F., Roldan, E. R. S., Garde, J., Soler, A. J., & Gomendio, M. (2005). Antlers honestly advertise sperm production and quality. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 272, 149–157.
Pradiee, J., O’Brien, E., Esteso, M. C., Castaño, C., Toledano-Díaz, A., Lopez-Sebastián, A., Marcos-Beltrán, J. L., Vega, R. S., Guillamón, F. G., Martínez-Nevado, E., Guerra, R., & Santiago-Moreno, J. (2016). Effect of shortening the prefreezing equilibration time with glycerol on the quality of chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica), ibex (Capra pyrenaica), mouflon (Ovis musimon) and aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) ejaculates. Animal Reproduction Science, 171, 121–128.
Preston, B. T., Stevenson, I. R., Pemberton, J. M., Coltman, D. W., & Wilson, K. (2003). Overt and covert competition in a promiscuous mammal: The importance of weaponry and testes size to male reproductive success. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 270, 633–640.
Ramm, S. A., Edward, D. A., Claydon, A. J., Hammond, D. E., Brownridge, P., Hurst, J. L., Beynon, R. J., & Stockley, P. (2015). Sperm competition risk drives plasticity in seminal fluid composition. BMC Biology, 13, 87.
Santiago-Moreno, J., Pulido-Pastor, A., Toledano-Díaz, A., Coloma, M. A., Gómez-Brunet, A., & López-Sebastián, A. (2009). The use of reproductive technologies in the conservation of the Spanish ibex (Capra pyrenaica): A model for ex situ conservation of other threatened wild ruminants. In L. T. Dahnof (Ed.), Animal reproduction: New research developments (pp. 233–249). New York: Nova Publisher.
Tourmente, M., Villar-Moya, P., Varea-Sánchez, M., Luque-Larena, J. J., Rial, E., & Roldan, E. R. S. (2015). Performance of rodent spermatozoa over time is enhanced by increased ATP concentrations: The role of sperm competition. Biology of Reproduction, 93(3), 64. doi:10.1095/biolreprod.114.127621.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Moreno, J.S. (2016). Non-Primate Mammal Sperm Competition. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1950-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1950-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences