Female Supremacy Articles - Page 13

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But for males access to females is considered the major factor influencing reproductive success. Unlike females, which must gestate then rear their offspring, males can breed any time, and the more matings the better. So operating as an unattached "free agent" may be the best approach.

Lindenfors said: "The number of females that they can impregnate is what matters most for reproductive success." But, he adds, "the males should go where the females are."

This last quote refers to the work of behavioral ecologist Jeanne Altmann, who coined the expression. While a single dominant male can monopolize more than one female, Altmann suggested this could be disadvantageous to females because of increased female breeding competition and the danger of outside males killing young they know not to be their own.

Altmann and others suggest females that manage to attract more males to their group would increase mate choice and reduce levels of infanticide. Studies also indicate males are better at detecting and defending against predators.

To pull in additional males there would have to be more females in a group than the alpha male could manage. As numbers grow, his chances of hanging on to his harem lessen. Scientists believe females develop sexual strategies to make this scenario more likely.

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