Courtship tactics in garter snakes: how do a male's morphology and behaviour influence his mating success?

@article{Shine2004CourtshipTI,
  title={Courtship tactics in garter snakes: how do a male's morphology and behaviour influence his mating success?},
  author={Richard Shine and Tracy Langkilde and Robert T. Mason},
  journal={Animal Behaviour},
  year={2004},
  volume={67},
  pages={477-483}
}
View on Elsevier
masonlab.science.oregonstate.edu
28 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
1
Background Citations
15
Methods Citations
2
Results Citations
1

Figures and Tables from this paper

28 Citations

The Opportunistic Serpent: Male Garter Snakes Adjust Courtship Tactics to Mating Opportunities
TLDR
Social parasitism in Red-sided garter snakes in Manitoba reveals an unsuspected plasticity and complexity in the behavioural tactics of reproducing male snakes.
Snakes in search of sex: the relation between mate-locating ability and mating success in male garter snakes
Alternative male mating tactics in garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
Sex at the Snake Den: Lust, Deception, and Conflict in the Mating System of Red-Sided Gartersnakes
DOES LARGE BODY SIZE IN MALES EVOLVE TO FACILITATE FORCIBLE INSEMINATION? A STUDY ON GARTER SNAKES
  • R. Shine, R. Mason
  • Biology, Environmental Science
    Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
  • 2005
TLDR
Even in mating systems where males compete physically and where larger body size confers a significant advantage in male-male competition, the actual selective force for larger bodysize in males may relate to forcible insemination of unreceptive females.
Using whole-group metabolic rate and behaviour to assess the energetics of courtship in red-sided garter snakes
Familiarity with a female does not affect a male's courtship intensity in garter snakes Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
TLDR
Experimental trials with red-sided garter snakes at a communal den in Manitoba saw whether previous exposure to a female modified male mate choice or courtship intensity, but in keeping with prediction from theory (but contrary to an early anecdotal re- port), male garter snake did not modify their courtship behaviour based upon their familiarity (or lack thereof) with a specific female.
Cryptic Forcible Insemination: Male Snakes Exploit Female Physiology, Anatomy, and Behavior to Obtain Coercive Matings
TLDR
It is shown that male garter snakes forcibly inseminate females by taking advantage of specific features of snake physiology, respiratory anatomy, and antipredator behavior.
Not just a chastity belt: the functional significance of mating plugs in garter snakes, revisited
During the spring emergence of red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) in Manitoba, Canada, the operational sex ratio is strongly skewed towards males, who scramble to locate and…
Compensation for Injury? Modified Multi-Modal Courtship of Wolf Spiders Following Autotomy of Signalling Appendages.
TLDR
It is found that, when exposed to female draglines, males missing these signalling appendages perform a high intensity courtship element (‘jerky tapping’) at a greater rate than intact males.
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 51 REFERENCES
Female mimicry in garter snakes: behavioural tactics of "she-males" and the males that court them
TLDR
Red-sided garter snakes in central Manitoba court and mate in early spring soon after emerging from communal overwintering dens, and some males ("she-males") produce female-like skin pheromones, and hence attract courtship from other males.
Female mimicry in garter snakes
TLDR
Female mimicry in a reptile, the red-sided garter snake, is reported, which is unique in that it is expressed as a physiological feminization and demonstrates not only reproductive competence but also a possible selective advantage to males with this female-like pheromone.
Sexual conflict in the snake den
TLDR
Female ”tactics” to escape male harassment may explain other puzzling aspects of garter snake biology including size-assortative mating, temporal patterns in dispersal from the den, avoidance of communal dens by young-of-the-year snakes, and female mimicry.
Individual success in mating balls of the grass snake, Natrix natrix: size is important
TLDR
It was demonstrated that competition between males occurred both when a single female was available to multiple males and when two females were simultaneously available to males, demonstrating that body size is a crucial determinant of the individual mating success.
Pick on someone your own size: ontogenetic shifts in mate choice by male garter snakes result in size-assortative mating
Data on over 950 natural matings of red-sided garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis, in Manitoba revealed size-assortative pairing: large males tended to mate with large females, and small…
Understanding sexual size dimorphism in snakes: wearing the snake's shoes
Correspondence and present address: J. A. Rivas, 17126 Lawson Valley Road, Jamul, CA 91935, U.S.A. G. M. Burghardt is at the Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN…
Cryptic Forcible Insemination: Male Snakes Exploit Female Physiology, Anatomy, and Behavior to Obtain Coercive Matings
TLDR
It is shown that male garter snakes forcibly inseminate females by taking advantage of specific features of snake physiology, respiratory anatomy, and antipredator behavior.
Behavioral shifts associated with reproduction in garter snakes
TLDR
Overall, many of the characteristic behavioral changes associated with reproduction were responses to features of the den environment rather than to reproduction per se, but the shift in antipredator responses may reflect a neural or endocrine "switch," suggesting that the link between reproduction and other behaviors involves a diversity of proximate mechanisms.
Mate choice in lekking sage grouse revisited: the roles of vocal display
TLDR
Analysis of mating distributions from two leks over 4 years that provide evidence for female choice based on differences in vocal display performance of males, the locations at which hens mated in the previous year, and the choices of other females (copying).
Male Aggression and Sexual Coercion of Females in Nonhuman Primates and Other Mammals: Evidence and Theoretical Implications
...
...