Both male-male competition and female choice are important forces in sexual selection that may act in concert. In red deer (Cervus elaphus), rutting activities related to male-male competition are highly conspicuous and have received most research attention. However, there is increasing evidence that females can gain by selecting mates. Due to the additive genetic benefits of a sire’s dominance rank, females may prefer them as mates, so that selection for male traits associated with dominance can be reinforced by female choice. On the other hand, recent evidence suggests that females might prefer male features not related to dominance and thus affect the distribution of mating outcomes. This predicts mating with less dominant males, but no study has so far investigated to which extent some females may do so when the dominant male is available. Here we use controlled captivity conditions to study whether females mate with subordinate males when dominant males are present. By means of parentage analyses conducted after genotyping the offspring, we found that dominant males did not sire all the offspring, the mean percentage of offspring sired by subordinate males being 13.03%. This result has consequences for the evolutionary reinforcement of components of sexual selection in red deer and might be used as a starting point for future studies on the red deer mating system and sexual selection.

中文翻译：

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下属马鹿雄性在受控条件下生出的后代：有些雌性不愿意不与阿尔法雄性交配吗？

男女竞争和女性选择都是在性选择中可以共同发挥作用的重要力量。在马鹿（鹿elaphus），与男性-男性竞争相关的车辙活动非常引人注目，并且受到了最多的研究关注。但是，越来越多的证据表明，女性可以通过选择伴侣来获得收益。由于父系优势地位的遗传优势，雌性可能更喜欢它们作为伴侣，因此女性的选择可以加强对与优势性相关的男性性状的选择。另一方面，最近的证据表明，女性可能更喜欢与优势无关的男性特征，从而影响交配结局的分布。这预示着雄性较少的雄性会交配，但是到目前为止，尚无研究调查在雄性显着的情况下某些雌性会交配的程度。在这里，我们使用受控的囚禁条件研究当存在优势男性时，女性是否与从属男性交配。通过对后代进行基因分型后进行的亲子关系分析，我们发现优势雄性并没有为所有后代提供父系，下属雄性所生后代的平均百分比为13.03％。该结果对马鹿的性选择的组成部分的进化加强具有影响，并且可以用作今后对马鹿交配系统和性选择的研究的起点。