How Nepotism and Social Conventions Shape Gender 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

Friday, March 14

CEFE – Large Meeting Room – 11:30 a.m.

1919 Route de Mende, Montpellier

The seminar will also be streamed live online.

Campus access (register before 11 a.m. on SEEM day):https://duo.dr13.cnrs.fr/public/evenement/index

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

Abstract:

In sexually reproducing species, males and females often differ in their eagerness to mate, their selectivity, and the extent of their investment 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 between 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 in which females have greater control over reproduction. I will also show how nepotism and social conventions create “silver spoon” effects that lead to changes in reproductive inequalities between males and females, and explore why this may be relevant to sexual selection theory.