Reproductive asynchrony within social groups of female eastern wild turkeys

ABSTRACT: Abstract Coordination in timing of reproduction is driven by multiple ecological and sociobiological processes for a wide array of species. Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) use a male dominance polygynous mating system, where males communicate with females via elaborate courtship displays and vocalizations at display sites. Most females prefer to mate with dominant males; therefore, asynchronous breeding and nesting may occur which can disproportionately influence individual fitness within breeding groups. For female wild turkeys, there are reproductive advantages associated with earlier nesting. As such, we evaluated reproductive asynchrony within and between groups of GPS‐tagged female eastern wild turkeys based on timing of nest initiation. We examined 30 social gro

SUBMITTER: Ulrey E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10266966 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature