Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Visually Sexing Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius Ludovicianus) Using Plumage Coloration and Pattern
Published on: March 8, 2020
Relationship between female mating strategy, litter success and offspring dispersal
David Laloi1, Murielle Richard, Pierre Fédérici
1UPMC Univ Paris 06, UMR 7625, Laboratoire Ecologie & Evolution, F-75005 Paris, France. david.laloi@upmc.fr
Abstract:
The relationship between mating systems and dispersal has generally been studied at the population and species levels. It has hardly ever been investigated at the individual level, by studying the variations of mating and dispersal strategies between individuals. We investigated this relationship in a natural population of the common lizard (Lacerta vivipara). Assuming that dispersal has a genetic basis, juvenile dispersal would be expected to be more family-dependent in monoandrous litters than in polyandrous litters. The opposite pattern was observed. Thus, maternal effects and/or litter effects play a greater role than genetic determinism in shaping the dispersal phenotype of juveniles. Moreover, the relationship between female mating strategy and offspring dispersal depended on litter success, in a way consistent with an influence of mother-offspring competition. Such a link between mating and dispersal strategies of individuals may have major repercussions for the way we consider the roles of these processes in population functioning.
Related Concept Videos
Life Histories
Mate Choice
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing, inherently...
Energy Budgets and Reproductive Strategies
Genetics of Speciation
Speciation Rates

