Female Embryos Are More Likely to Die Than Males in a Wild Mammal

AbstractBiased birth sex ratios have been documented in many mammalian populations, but it is often difficult to know whether they result from biases in the sex ratio at conception and/or sex differences in prenatal mortality. It is generally admitted that there is an excess of males at conception and a higher level of mortality during gestation for males because of a positive relationship between size and vulnerability. Here, we challenge this classical prediction in a wild boar (Sus scrofa) population facing highly variable food resources (mast seeding) and in which male fetuses are heavier than females. Using long-term hunting and mast seeding data, we show that sex ratio at conception is balanced and that females suffer from higher embryonic mortality particularly in large litters, whatever the level and the type of food resources. One possible explanation is that a female embryo is ready for implantation later than an identically aged male because of slower development and is more likely to miss the implantation window. To what extent a lower survival of female embryos is a common feature in mammals remains to be carefully explored.