Scent marking in wild banded mongooses: 3. Intrasexual overmarking in females

Publication Type:
 Journal Article
Year of Publication:
 2011
Authors:
 Neil R. Jordan, Francis Mwanguhya, Solomon Kyabulima, Peter Rüedi, Sarah J. Hodge, Michael A. Cant
Publication/Journal:
 Animal Behaviour
Keywords:
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ISBN:
 0003-3472
Abstract:

In contrast to numerous studies of scent marking in male mammals, studies of female scent marking are relatively rare. We have previously shown that communally breeding female banded mongooses, Mungos mungo, are more likely to overmark the scent of other females. Here we describe female overmarking patterns in more detail, and discuss these results in relation to hypotheses potentially explaining such [`]female intrasexual overmarking’. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate female overmarking in any wild mammal. First, although we found some evidence of individually distinctive scent marks in females, we found no evidence to suggest that female intrasexual overmarking was related to competition for food, as feeding competition was infrequent, and unrelated to overmarking scores. We also found no evidence to suggest that intrasexual overmarking in females was involved in reproductive suppression. Females with the highest and lowest overmarking scores in each group were mate-guarded by males for similar durations. Finally, we found little evidence to suggest that female intrasexual overmarking was involved in competition for males. Although the female with the highest overmarking score in each group tended to be mate-guarded by males in better condition than the female with the lowest overmarking score, a female’s overmarking score affected neither the amount of harassment she received from males nor the frequency of mating attempts received. These results are discussed in light of these and other untested hypotheses for female overmarking.

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