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Testosterone and the dark ventral patch of male red deer: the role of the social environment

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Abstract

The expression of male sexual traits, which is stimulated by testosterone, entails significant costs for individuals. Consequently, natural selection is expected to favour the modulation of sexual trait development according to the balance between its costs and benefits. The proportion of rivals in a population may affect this balance by increasing or decreasing the reproductive benefits associated with the development of sex traits. Here, we explore the relationship between testosterone level and sex trait size under two populational conditions of mate competition: fenced (i.e. high male-male competition; all male age groups are present) and unfenced (i.e. low competition; most males present are juveniles). Our model species is the Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus), and the sex trait is the dark ventral patch that males exhibit during the rutting season. Our results showed that the positive relationship between testosterone levels and the size of the dark ventral patch depends on the environmental level of male-male competition. Only in populations where the operational sex ratio was high (i.e. high proportion of rival males), individuals with high levels of testosterone developed the sex trait. Conversely, when mate competition was low, there was no significant relationship between testosterone level and trait size. This result reinforces the idea that the effect of testosterone in promoting the development of sex traits may be mediated by the intensity of mate competition in the population, as well as the role of sexual selection in the evolution of the dark ventral patch in red deer.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Marco Apollonio and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments. We thank the autonomous governments of Andalucía (Junta de Andalucía) and Extremadura (Junta de Extremadura) and the owners of the hunting estates that provided permissions and facilities for fieldwork. Jose Manuel Seoane and students from the University of Córdoba helped in fieldwork and samples collection. We are indebted to P. Capilla-Lasheras for his advice on the statistical approach.

Funding

Financial support came from projects CGL2013-48122-P and CGL2016-77052-P to JC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Research Unit (UIRCP), Universidad de Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    Eva de la Peña & Juan Carranza

  2. Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), 28006, Madrid, Spain

    José Martín

  3. Department of Biology, Zoology Unit, Universidad Autónoma (UAM), 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Isabel Barja

  4. Biodiversity and Global Change Research Centre (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma (UAM), 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Isabel Barja

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  1. Eva de la Peña
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Correspondence to Eva de la Peña.

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No animal was harvested for the purpose of this study. The relevant permits were obtained for the samples and data collection after hunting actions by the government of Andalusia.

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Communicated by: Paula Roig Boixeda

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de la Peña, E., Martín, J., Barja, I. et al. Testosterone and the dark ventral patch of male red deer: the role of the social environment. Sci Nat 107, 18 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-020-01674-1

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