The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Chyanne Smith will present Master's research titled, Social organization during mating, but not offspring care, influences the reproductive success of male degus, Octodon degus on 10/10/2023 at 1 PM EST in https://tennessee.zoom.us/j/94515871735. Everyone is invited to attend. 

Environmental Science

Chair: Loren Hayes

Abstract:
We report results of a longitudinal study on the influence of social organization during different seasons on male reproductive success in the common degu (Octodon degus), a caviomorph rodent endemic to Chile. Male social organization was variable across years and seasons. The best fit model for male reproductive success included autumn-winter social unit type, year, spring group ID, and autumn-winter group ID. During the autumn-winter, male reproductive success was greatest in female/male pairs (FM) and was lowest for solitary male units (M) and units containing one female and multiple males (FMM). Spring social organization did not have an impact on male reproductive success. This suggests certain social organization types are reproductively costly to male degus during the mating season (autumn-winter) but not offspring care (autumn spring). Our study highlights the importance of social organization as a core component of a social system when studying male reproductive success.