ABS 2023
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Selective partner preference in monogamous and non-monogamous species of Peromyscus
Daisy M. Horr, Eileen A. Lacey. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States

Mating systems are an integral part of a species’ biology. In socially monogamous species, a strong pair bond is critical to reproductive success. To establish these pair-bonds, individuals must not only be able to recognize their mate but also have a selective preference for their mate over a stranger. Along the coast of central California, the socially monogamous Peromyscus californicus co-occurs with the polygynandrous P. boylli, providing an ideal opportunity to assess differences in the nature and strength of social relationships between reproductive partners in sympatric members of the genus with differing mating systems. A subset of these animals was subjected to Partner Preference Tests (PPTs), in which individuals were given the choice of interacting with a familiar reproductive partner or an unfamiliar, opposite-sex conspecific. Here, we use time in proximity to each test animal to assess relative preference for reproductive partners in each species. In addition to generating new insights into the nature of male-female pair bonds in free-living P. californicus, these analyses add to our growing understanding of the evolution of social monogamy in the genus Peromyscus.