Moon Jamie C, McCoy Earl D, Mushinsky Henry R, Karl Stephen A
Department of Biology, University of South Florida, SCA 110, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.
J Hered. 2006 Mar-Apr;97(2):150-7. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esj017. Epub 2006 Feb 17.
Little is known about the reproductive behaviors and the actual outcomes of mating attempts in the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus). We examined the mating system and reproductive behaviors of a population of gopher tortoises in central Florida. Using microsatellite markers, we assigned fathers to the offspring of seven clutches and determined that multiple fathers were present in two of the seven clutches examined. We found that gopher tortoises exhibited a promiscuous mating system with larger males fertilizing the majority of clutches. The advantage of larger males over smaller males in fertilizing females may be a result of larger males winning access to females in aggressive bouts with other males or larger males may be more attractive to females. Clutches produced by larger females tended to be sired by a single male, whereas clutches of smaller females tended to be sired by multiple males.
对于穴小鳄龟（Gopherus polyphemus）的繁殖行为以及交配尝试的实际结果，我们所知甚少。我们研究了佛罗里达州中部穴小鳄龟种群的交配系统和繁殖行为。利用微卫星标记，我们确定了七个巢穴中幼龟的父亲，并发现在所检查的七个巢穴中有两个存在多个父亲。我们发现穴小鳄龟表现出杂乱的交配系统，体型较大的雄性使大多数巢穴受精。体型较大的雄性在使雌性受精方面比体型较小的雄性更具优势，这可能是因为体型较大的雄性在与其他雄性的争斗中赢得接近雌性的机会，或者体型较大的雄性对雌性更具吸引力。体型较大的雌性所产巢穴往往由单一雄性受精，而体型较小的雌性所产巢穴则往往由多个雄性受精。
