Adaptive Variation in Sex Ratios of Offspring in Nutritionally Stressed Mule Deer
- 6 December 1991
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Mammalogy
- Vol. 72 (4) , 745-749
- https://doi.org/10.2307/1381837
Abstract
I examined the sex ratio of litters of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) collected during late winter in 1984–1989 in eastern California. Although the overall sex ratio was unity, heavier mothers, and those with higher kidney-fat indexes, tended to produce male-biased litters. Results conformed to predictions from theory that relates maternal-investment ability to adaptive variation in sex ratios of offspring in polygynous animals.Keywords
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