Sex ratios: Bad times
wallop extra sons
Decades of deer-watching on the
Isle of Rum reveals a quirk of sex ratios that may explain why a famous
biological hypothesis has been so hard to prove.
References:
Cockburn, A. 1999. Deer density determined by density. Nature
399(June 3):407.
Kruuk, L.E.B., et al. 1999. Population density affects sex
ratio variation in red deer. Nature 399(June 3):459.
Trivers, R.L., and D.E. Willard. 1973. Natural selection of parental
ability to vary the sex ratio of offspring. Science 179(Jan.
5):90.
Further Readings:
Clutton-Brock, T.H., S.D. Albon, and F.E. Guinness. 1984. Maternal
dominance, breeding success and birth sex ratios in red deer. Nature
308:358.
Sources:
Andrew Cockburn
Australian National University
Division of Botany and Zoology
Evolutionary Ecology Group
Canberra
Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia
Tim H. Clutton-Brock
University of Cambridge
Department of Zoology
Cambridge CB2 3EJ
United Kingdom
Fiona E. Guinness
University of Cambridge
Department of Zoology
Cambridge CB2 3EJ
United Kingdom
Loeske E.B. Kruuk
University of Edinburgh
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology
Edinburgh EH9 3JT
United Kingdom
From Science
News, Vol. 155, No. 23, June 5, 1999, p. 359.
Copyright © 1999, Science Service.
