Male reproductive tactics and reproductive success of the group-living feral cat (Felis catus).

Male reproductive tactics and reproductive success of the feral cat (Felis catus) were investigated in a group-living cat population on a small island. Two main reproductive tactics depending on body weight were clearly documented. Heavier (dominant) males used the tactics of courting not only the females of their own group, but also the females of a group other than their own. On the other hand, lighter males mainly utilized the tactics of courting only females of their own group. However, the former tactics were expected to be unsuccessful from the observation that extra-group copulations were rare because of their decreased courtship rank during extra-group visits. Results for the paternity of kittens obtained by the analysis of polymorphic microsatellite DNA revealed that more than half of the kittens of grouping females were fathered by extra-group males, suggesting that the tactics were more successful than expected. This discrepancy between the observed copulation and the actual paternity also suggesting the probability that some female choice may be operating upon the mating system of this group-living cat population.