Cargando…

Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior

BACKGROUND: Pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus (Linnaeus 1758), is a South American grazing deer categorized as "near threatened". However, knowledge about pampas deer behavior including courtship and mating is scarce and incomplete. The aim of this study was to characterize the courtship...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Morales-Piñeyrúa, Jéssica T, Ungerfeld, Rodolfo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3502430/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23062236
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-54-60
_version_ 1782250336916865024
author Morales-Piñeyrúa, Jéssica T
Ungerfeld, Rodolfo
author_facet Morales-Piñeyrúa, Jéssica T
Ungerfeld, Rodolfo
author_sort Morales-Piñeyrúa, Jéssica T
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus (Linnaeus 1758), is a South American grazing deer categorized as "near threatened". However, knowledge about pampas deer behavior including courtship and mating is scarce and incomplete. The aim of this study was to characterize the courtship and mating behavior of the pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus), an endangered species from South America. METHODS: We performed focal observations of 5 males allocated at the Estación de Cría de Fauna Autóctona Cerro Pan de Azúcar, Uruguay, 4 times a day from 5 to 20 minutes each time on a daily basis from February to May. During that period we recorded all courtship and mating behaviors, as well as quantified the frequency of the specific behaviors shown. As mating were rarely observed, we recorded that behavior when it was observed in the context of other studies performed in the same population during the following 2 years. RESULTS: During the observation period we recorded 928 courtships and 5 mating periods. In addition, we recorded 10 more matings performed during other studies, totaling 15. The duration of each mating calculated from the 15 recordings was 3.9 ± 0.4 s, and the total period of female receptivity (from first to last mating acceptance) was 8.2 ± 1.1 min. Main observed courtship behaviors in males were “chase” and “ostentation”, while the most observed close to mating were “chinning”, “raised head” and “anogenital sniffing”. The most observed behaviors in females during the mating period were “vulva exhibition” and “move away”. CONCLUSION: This is the first detailed report in pampas deer mating behavior. Estrus lasted only 8 min accepting only 3 short copulations per estrus. However, female behavior during courtship can be characterized as highly proceptive.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3502430
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2012
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-35024302012-11-21 Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior Morales-Piñeyrúa, Jéssica T Ungerfeld, Rodolfo Acta Vet Scand Research BACKGROUND: Pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus (Linnaeus 1758), is a South American grazing deer categorized as "near threatened". However, knowledge about pampas deer behavior including courtship and mating is scarce and incomplete. The aim of this study was to characterize the courtship and mating behavior of the pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus), an endangered species from South America. METHODS: We performed focal observations of 5 males allocated at the Estación de Cría de Fauna Autóctona Cerro Pan de Azúcar, Uruguay, 4 times a day from 5 to 20 minutes each time on a daily basis from February to May. During that period we recorded all courtship and mating behaviors, as well as quantified the frequency of the specific behaviors shown. As mating were rarely observed, we recorded that behavior when it was observed in the context of other studies performed in the same population during the following 2 years. RESULTS: During the observation period we recorded 928 courtships and 5 mating periods. In addition, we recorded 10 more matings performed during other studies, totaling 15. The duration of each mating calculated from the 15 recordings was 3.9 ± 0.4 s, and the total period of female receptivity (from first to last mating acceptance) was 8.2 ± 1.1 min. Main observed courtship behaviors in males were “chase” and “ostentation”, while the most observed close to mating were “chinning”, “raised head” and “anogenital sniffing”. The most observed behaviors in females during the mating period were “vulva exhibition” and “move away”. CONCLUSION: This is the first detailed report in pampas deer mating behavior. Estrus lasted only 8 min accepting only 3 short copulations per estrus. However, female behavior during courtship can be characterized as highly proceptive. BioMed Central 2012-10-13 /pmc/articles/PMC3502430/ /pubmed/23062236 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-54-60 Text en Copyright ©2012 Morales-Piñeyrúa and Ungerfeld; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Morales-Piñeyrúa, Jéssica T
Ungerfeld, Rodolfo
Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
title Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
title_full Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
title_fullStr Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
title_full_unstemmed Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
title_short Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
title_sort pampas deer (ozotoceros bezoarticus) courtship and mating behavior
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3502430/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23062236
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1751-0147-54-60
work_keys_str_mv AT moralespineyruajessicat pampasdeerozotocerosbezoarticuscourtshipandmatingbehavior
AT ungerfeldrodolfo pampasdeerozotocerosbezoarticuscourtshipandmatingbehavior