Alternative reproductive tactics and reproductive success in male Carollia perspicillata (Seba's short-tailed bat)

Abstract

The use of alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) is widespread in animals. Males of some species may change tactics depending on age, body condition and social environment. Many bat species are polygynous where a fraction of males only have access to fertile females. For polygynous bats, knowledge of the reproductive success of males using different ARTs is scarce, and it remains unclear how age of males is related to switching decisions between social statuses. We studied a large captive population of Carollia perspicillata, where males are either harem holders, bachelors or peripheral males. Using a multistate procedure, we modelled the age-related switches in reproductive tactics and in survival probability. From the model, we calculated the reproductive success and the frequencies of males displaying different reproductive tactics. As in mammals, the switch between social statuses is often related to age, we predicted that the transition probability of bachelor and peripheral males to harem status would increase with age. We show, however, that social status transition towards a harem holding position was not related to age. Reproductive success changed with age and social status. Harem males had a significantly higher reproductive success than bachelor males except between a short period from 3.8 to 4.4 years of age where success was similar, and a significantly higher reproductive success than peripheral males between 2.6 and 4.4 years of age. Harem males showed a clear decrease in the probability of maintaining social status with age, which suggests that senescence reduces resource holding potential.

Keywords: Carollia perspicillata; Phyllostomidae; age estimation; alternative reproductive tactics; bats; multistate model; reproductive success.