How nepotism and social conventions shape sex biases in social dominance, dispersal patterns, and reproductive inequalities in a group-living carnivore

(Seminar in English)

Oliver Höner

Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany and Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution – Montpellier, Montpellier, France

hoener@izw-berlin.de

Vendredi 14 mars

CEFE – Grande salle de réunion- 11h30

1919 route de Mende, Montpellier

The seminar will also be streamed live online.

Access to campus (register before 11 on SEEM day): https://duo.dr13.cnrs.fr/public/evenement/index

Link to seminar: https://umontpellier-fr.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5Hj8Pqd6QQCEtnWPaY–8g

Abstract:

In sexually reproducing species, males and females often differ in how eager they are to mate, how choosy they are, and how much they invest in parental care. This sexual conflict has been functionally linked to differences in competition within and between the sexes, life history strategies, and reproductive inequalities in males and females.

In group-living species, nepotism and social conventions often create an additional layer of (social) inequalities. I will show how nepotism and social conventions drive female-biased social dominance, dispersal patterns, and kinship dynamics in the spotted hyena, a social carnivore with female-biased control over reproduction. I will also show how nepotism and social conventions create silver spoon effects that lead to changes in the reproductive inequalities in males and females, and explore why this may be relevant for sexual selection theory.