Bringing new meaning to the phrase "see you later, alligator," a new study suggests that female American alligators frequently return to their sexual partners.
In a study of wild alligators in Louisiana's Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, seven of ten of the female reptiles studied in multiple years were found to have mated with the same males during the 1995 to 2005 mating seasons.
Like females of other reptile species, alligators still couple with several males, according to study leader Stacey Lance of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in Georgia. (Related news and video: "Alligators Sing to Set Up Singles Clubs?")
But in an unusual twist, it seems the same female and male find each other during multiple mating seasons. Scientists aren't sure whether the female chooses the male, or the male seeks out the female.
Based on the sheer number of alligators in the park, it's incredible "to think that the same two were getting together every year," Lance said. Once the sex is over, however, the "males are out of the picture."
Alligator Baby-Daddies
Over the ten-year period, Lance and colleagues took eggs from a total of 92 alligator clutches—or groups of eggs—and hatched 1,802 babies in the laboratory.
"You actually peel the eggshell as they're coming out—they're really quite cute," Lance said.
The team also captured ten female alligators at their nests, drew blood samples, and compared the wild adults' genes with those of the lab-born hatchlings.
No male alligators were captured for the study. But knowing the genes of mother and offspring enabled the scientists to piece together the fathers' genes.
The team found that an average of 51 percent of the clutches contained eggs from multiple fathers.
But within that number, 87 percent of the clutches had an "obvious" primary male responsible for siring at least half of the babies.
No one knows why female alligators stand by their "men," though it could be for the guarantee of healthy babies, Lance said.
"If a female is successful with a certain male, why not stay with him?" she said.
Alligators Do It Like Birds?
The newfound alligator behavior dovetails with the mating habits of birds, the study authors noted.
Like alligators, a female bird will pair with a male, then sneak out for liaisons with other males, Lance said.
Referring to birds' apparent dinosaur ancestry, Lance said that "if you think about birds really being modern reptiles in a lot of ways, this suggests that perhaps that behavior we see in birds is more ancient."
It also shows that when it comes to sexual behavior, "what you see on the surface is not usually what's going on."
Study published October 7 in the journal Molecular Ecology.
|
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES
|
