Male energy reserves, mate-searching activities, and reproductive success: alternative resource use strategies in a presumed capital breeder.

Abstract excerpt

Sexual selection studies often focus on morphological traits that are important only in the later stages of mate acquisition. Comparatively little is known about traits that lead to mate acquisition, such as mate-searching activities. We experimentally manipulated body condition (i.e., the energy reserves) in male puff adders (Bitis arietans) prior to the mating season using supplemental feeding in the field, and...

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