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Why do female adders copulate so frequently?

Nature volume 355, pages 440–441 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

MALES of most animal species will enhance their reproductive success if they mate often and with many different partners, whereas promiscuous mating is unlikely to increase a female's reproductive success. Why then is multiple copulation by females so common1–6? Many theoreticians have suggested that multiple copulations might enhance the viability of a female's offspring, either because of inadequate quantities of sperm from the first mating1,7, additional nutrients derived from the seminal fluid7,8 or some genetic advantage9–14. Our field studies on Swedish adders provide the first empirical evidence that multiple copulations, with different partners each time, increase offspring viability. This advantage apparently results from more intense sperm competition in the female's reproductive tract, resulting in a higher proportion of her ova being fertilized by genetically superior males.

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Author notes

  1. Richard Shine: To whom all correspondence should be addressed.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Ecology, University of Lund, S 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Thomas Madsen & Jon Loman

  2. Zoology Department, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia

    Thomas Madsen & Richard Shine

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 40506, USA

    Thomas Håkansson

Authors
  1. Thomas Madsen
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  2. Richard Shine
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  3. Jon Loman
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  4. Thomas Håkansson
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Madsen, T., Shine, R., Loman, J. et al. Why do female adders copulate so frequently?. Nature 355, 440–441 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/355440a0

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