Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Deer destiny determined by density

Nature volume 399, pages 407–408 (1999)Cite this article

Theory predicts that socially dominant females will produce more sons than daughters. But when times are hard, the higher growth rate of males means that proportionately more will die during development. New work shows that, in red deer, these effects can operate in concert.

The Trivers-Willard hypothesis is conceptually straightforward, as long as the mother produces one infant at a time. A mother can allocate a certain amount of resources to her child, and she should not breed if she does not have at least the minimum resources required by her baby. But what if she has more than this minimum? The optimum sex for her offspring will then depend on the relationship between the extra resources given to her child and the number of offspring the child produces, which, in turn, determines her number of grandchildren. The sex of the offspring is significant here because, in polygynous mammals such as antelopes, elephants, seals and some primates, sons will often have much more variable reproductive success than daughters.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Dense deer — the red deer (Cervus elaphus).

DAVID SHALE

Figure 2: Two theories to explain the observed sex ratios in red deer populations on the island of Rum.

References

  1. Trivers, R. L. & Willard, D. E. Science 179, 90–92 (1973).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kruuk, L. E. B., Clutton-Brock, T. H., Albon, S. D., Pemberton, J. M. & Guinness, F. E. Nature 399, 459–461 (1999).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Clutton-Brock, T. H. & Iason, G. R. Q. Rev. Biol. 61, 339–374 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Clutton-Brock, T. H., Albon, S. D. & Guinness, F. E. Nature 308, 358–360 (1984).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Clutton-Brock, T. H., Albon, S. D. & Guinness, F. E. Anim. Behav. 34, 460–471 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Krackow, S. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 41, 435–443 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Clutton-Brock, T. H., Albon, S. D. & Guinness, F. E. Nature 313, 131–133 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Flint, A. P. F., Albon, S. D. & Jafar, S. I. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 106, 374–383 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Post, E., Langvatn, R., Forchhammer, M. C. & Stenseth, N. C. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 4467–4471 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Botany and Zoology, Andrew Cockburn is in the Evolutionary Ecology Group, Australian National University, Canberra, 0200, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Andrew Cockburn

Authors
  1. Andrew Cockburn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cockburn, A. Deer destiny determined by density. Nature 399, 407–408 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/20794

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/20794

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing