Rodent Societies: An Ecological & Evolutionary Perspective

will only be mating with one male. The implication is that
monogamous females have more to lose by mating with pre-
viously mated males than do females that mate with mul-
tiple males; however, this remains to be demonstrated. We
do know that although female prairie voles (Microtus och-

Reproductive Strategies in Female Rodents 45

Table 4.1 (continued)

Species Choice Measure used Reference

Prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) Odor: non-parasitized parasitized Odor and social preference Klein et al. 1999
Social: no preference
Good genes —Dominance status
House mice ICR-JCL Dominant subordinate Odor preference Hayashi 1990
House mice —2nd generation from wild Dominant subordinate Odor preference Drickamer 1992a
Golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) Dominant subordinate Scent marking in semi-natural Lisk et al. 1989
enclosures
Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) Dominant subordinate Social and mating preference Carr et al. 1982
Female in estrus
Bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) Dominant subordinate Social and odor preference Hoffmeyer 1982; Horne and
Ylönen 1996
Bank vole (C. glareolus) Dominant subordinate Odor preference and behavior Kruczek 1997
Prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) Dominant subordinate Social and mating preference Shapiro and Dewsbury 1986
Montane vole (M. montanus) No preference Social and mating preference Shapiro and Dewsbury 1986
Root vole (M. oeconomus) Dominant subordinate Social preference Zhao et al. 2003
Water vole (Arvicola terrestris) Dominant subordinate Odor preference Evsikov et al. 1994
Brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus) Dominant subordinate Social and behavior Huck and Banks 1982
Good genes — Spatial ability
Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) Good spatial ability poor spatial Social preference Spritzer et al. 2005
ability
Other
Snow vole (Chionomys nivalis) Males with higher hematocrit
volume lower hematocrit volume
More symmetric males less Odor preferences Luque-Larena et al. 2003
symmetric

Figure 4.1 One paradigm used in the study of female mate choice involves tethering two males in opposite ends of a three-chambered cage

to prevent male-male interactions from influencing a female’s choice. The female is then released into the central chamber and allowed to move

freely throughout the three chambers. Time spent with each male and /or number of matings with each male can be quantified. This photo

was taken at the end of a mating trial. The female is in the left-hand chamber with one of the males. She has moved all nest material from the

chambers of both males into one single nest with the preferred male.

rogaster), a socially monogamous species, tended to pre-

fer unmated males (as assessed through visitation and cop-

ulation; Pierce and Dewsbury 1991), so do females in

multiple-mating species such as female laboratory rats

(Rattus norvegicus,Krames and Mastromatteo 1973) and