Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/2961
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dc.contributor.authorBates, Lucy Aen_UK
dc.contributor.authorHandford, Rosieen_UK
dc.contributor.authorLee, Phyllis Cen_UK
dc.contributor.authorNjiraini, Norahen_UK
dc.contributor.authorPoole, Joyce Hen_UK
dc.contributor.authorSayialel, Katitoen_UK
dc.contributor.authorSayialel, Soilaen_UK
dc.contributor.authorMoss, Cynthia Jen_UK
dc.contributor.authorByrne, Richard Wen_UK
dc.date.accessioned2016-12-21T22:18:00Z-
dc.date.available2016-12-21T22:18:00Z-
dc.date.issued2010-04-07en_UK
dc.identifier.othere10052en_UK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/2961-
dc.description.abstractFemale African elephants signal oestrus via chemicals in their urine, but they also exhibit characteristic changes to their posture, gait and behaviour when sexually receptive. Free-ranging females visually signal receptivity by holding their heads and tails high, walking with an exaggerated gait, and displaying increased tactile behaviour towards males. Parous females occasionally exhibit these visual signals at times when they are thought not to be cycling and without attracting interest from musth males. Using demographic and behavioural records spanning a continuous 28-year period, we investigated the occurrence of this “simulated” oestrus behaviour. We show that parous females in the Amboseli elephant population do simulate receptive oestrus behaviours, and this false oestrus occurs disproportionately in the presence of naïve female kin who are observed coming into oestrus for the first time. We compare several alternative hypotheses for the occurrence of this simulation: 1) false oestrus has no functional purpose (e.g., it merely results from abnormal hormonal changes); 2) false oestrus increases the reproductive success of the simulating female, by inducing sexual receptivity; and 3) false oestrus increases the inclusive fitness of the simulating female, either by increasing the access of related females to suitable males, or by encouraging appropriate oestrus behaviours from female relatives who are not responding correctly to males. Although the observed data do not fully conform to the predictions of any of these hypotheses, we rule out the first two, and tentatively suggest that parous females most likely exhibit false oestrus behaviours in order to demonstrate to naïve relatives at whom to direct their behaviour.en_UK
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_UK
dc.relationBates LA, Handford R, Lee PC, Njiraini N, Poole JH, Sayialel K, Sayialel S, Moss CJ & Byrne RW (2010) Why do African elephants (Loxodonta africana) simulate oestrus? An analysis of longitudinal data. PLoS ONE, 5 (4), Art. No.: e10052. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010052en_UK
dc.rightsCopyright: © 2010 Bates et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/en_UK
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_UK
dc.subjectoestrus signalsen_UK
dc.subjectteaching in elephantsen_UK
dc.subjectoestrus simulationen_UK
dc.subjectfemale kinshipen_UK
dc.subjectAfrican elephant Behavioren_UK
dc.subjectSexual behavior in animals.en_UK
dc.titleWhy do African elephants (Loxodonta africana) simulate oestrus? An analysis of longitudinal dataen_UK
dc.typeJournal Articleen_UK
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0010052en_UK
dc.identifier.pmid20383331en_UK
dc.citation.jtitlePLoS ONEen_UK
dc.citation.issn1932-6203en_UK
dc.citation.volume5en_UK
dc.citation.issue4en_UK
dc.citation.publicationstatusPublisheden_UK
dc.citation.peerreviewedRefereeden_UK
dc.type.statusVoR - Version of Recorden_UK
dc.author.emailphyllis.lee@stir.ac.uken_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationUniversity of St Andrewsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationUniversity of St Andrewsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationPsychologyen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationAmboseli Trust for Elephantsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationAmboseli Trust for Elephantsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationAmboseli Trust for Elephantsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationAmboseli Trust for Elephantsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationAmboseli Trust for Elephantsen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationUniversity of St Andrewsen_UK
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000276454000012en_UK
dc.identifier.scopusid2-s2.0-77956321763en_UK
dc.identifier.wtid809449en_UK
dc.contributor.orcid0000-0002-4296-3513en_UK
dc.date.accepted2010-03-16en_UK
dcterms.dateAccepted2010-03-16en_UK
dc.date.filedepositdate2011-04-19en_UK
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Reviewen_UK
rioxxterms.versionVoRen_UK
local.rioxx.authorBates, Lucy A|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorHandford, Rosie|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorLee, Phyllis C|0000-0002-4296-3513en_UK
local.rioxx.authorNjiraini, Norah|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorPoole, Joyce H|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorSayialel, Katito|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorSayialel, Soila|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorMoss, Cynthia J|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorByrne, Richard W|en_UK
local.rioxx.projectInternal Project|University of Stirling|https://isni.org/isni/0000000122484331en_UK
local.rioxx.freetoreaddate2011-04-19en_UK
local.rioxx.licencehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/|2011-04-19|en_UK
local.rioxx.filenameBates_etal_oestrus.pdfen_UK
local.rioxx.filecount1en_UK
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