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Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)

Amanda N. Cooper, Chris Cunningham Orcid Logo, Jeremy S. Morris, James S. Ruff, Wayne K. Potts, David R. Carrier

The Journal of Experimental Biology, Volume: 223, Issue: 3, Start page: jeb.213389

Swansea University Author: Chris Cunningham Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1242/jeb.213389

Abstract

Intense physical competition between males for mating opportunities is widespread among mammals. In such agonistic encounters, males with combinations of morphological, physiological, and behavioral characters that allow them to dominate an opponent have greater fitness. However, the specific physic...

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Published in: The Journal of Experimental Biology
ISSN: 0022-0949 1477-9145
Published: The Company of Biologists Ltd 2020
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa53309
first_indexed 2020-01-20T19:29:43Z
last_indexed 2025-03-14T03:38:21Z
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spelling 2025-03-12T10:27:30.5951660 v2 53309 2020-01-20 Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus) 0bd688baf9fc30cb39dfae9ed28cb662 0000-0003-3965-2076 Chris Cunningham Chris Cunningham true false 2020-01-20 BGPS Intense physical competition between males for mating opportunities is widespread among mammals. In such agonistic encounters, males with combinations of morphological, physiological, and behavioral characters that allow them to dominate an opponent have greater fitness. However, the specific physical traits associated with competitive ability are poorly understood. Larger body size is often correlated with fitness in mammals. Interestingly, fitness is maximized at intermediate body masses in male house mice (Mus musculus), a species with a polygynous mating system in which males compete physically for access to reproductive resources. Here, we used competition trials in semi-natural, mixed-sex population enclosures to directly measure competitive ability in male house mice based on control of a preferred nesting site. We tested the hypothesis that the musculoskeletal systems of male mice demonstrating high competitive ability are more specialized for competition by comparing the masses of 10 major muscle groups and eight bones as well as a set of 12 skeletal shape indices associated with anatomical specialization for fighting performance in a set of nine winners and 20 losers. Winning males possessed several traits hypothesized to enhance performance in male-male contests: relatively greater mass in several muscle groups and bones of the fore- and hindlimb and larger scapular surface area. Unexpectedly, no measurements of the head and neck differed significantly between winners and losers. These results identify musculoskeletal traits associated with competitive ability in male house mice and suggest that our current understanding of mammalian fighting performance is incomplete and more nuanced than previously considered. Journal Article The Journal of Experimental Biology 223 3 jeb.213389 The Company of Biologists Ltd 0022-0949 1477-9145 Biomechanics, Life-history traits, Morphology, Musculoskeletal system, Sexual selection 7 2 2020 2020-02-07 10.1242/jeb.213389 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Not Required This work was primarily funded through the University of Utah Funding Incentive Seed Grant Program to D.R.C. Additional funding was provided through National Science Foundation grants to D.R.C. (IOS 08-17782) and W.K.P. (DEB 09-18969) and a National Institutes of Health grant to W.K.P. (R01-GM109500). 2025-03-12T10:27:30.5951660 2020-01-20T13:24:59.3912844 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Amanda N. Cooper 1 Chris Cunningham 0000-0003-3965-2076 2 Jeremy S. Morris 3 James S. Ruff 4 Wayne K. Potts 5 David R. Carrier 6 53309__16523__42e395adf4704e93b46bfa720b686d1c.pdf Accepted Mouse Paper.pdf 2020-02-04T11:20:38.0757516 Output 705637 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2021-01-08T00:00:00.0000000 true
title Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
spellingShingle Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
Chris Cunningham
title_short Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
title_full Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
title_fullStr Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
title_full_unstemmed Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
title_sort Musculoskeletal mass and shape are correlated with competitive ability in male house mice (Mus musculus)
author_id_str_mv 0bd688baf9fc30cb39dfae9ed28cb662
author_id_fullname_str_mv 0bd688baf9fc30cb39dfae9ed28cb662_***_Chris Cunningham
author Chris Cunningham
author2 Amanda N. Cooper
Chris Cunningham
Jeremy S. Morris
James S. Ruff
Wayne K. Potts
David R. Carrier
format Journal article
container_title The Journal of Experimental Biology
container_volume 223
container_issue 3
container_start_page jeb.213389
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
issn 0022-0949
1477-9145
doi_str_mv 10.1242/jeb.213389
publisher The Company of Biologists Ltd
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Intense physical competition between males for mating opportunities is widespread among mammals. In such agonistic encounters, males with combinations of morphological, physiological, and behavioral characters that allow them to dominate an opponent have greater fitness. However, the specific physical traits associated with competitive ability are poorly understood. Larger body size is often correlated with fitness in mammals. Interestingly, fitness is maximized at intermediate body masses in male house mice (Mus musculus), a species with a polygynous mating system in which males compete physically for access to reproductive resources. Here, we used competition trials in semi-natural, mixed-sex population enclosures to directly measure competitive ability in male house mice based on control of a preferred nesting site. We tested the hypothesis that the musculoskeletal systems of male mice demonstrating high competitive ability are more specialized for competition by comparing the masses of 10 major muscle groups and eight bones as well as a set of 12 skeletal shape indices associated with anatomical specialization for fighting performance in a set of nine winners and 20 losers. Winning males possessed several traits hypothesized to enhance performance in male-male contests: relatively greater mass in several muscle groups and bones of the fore- and hindlimb and larger scapular surface area. Unexpectedly, no measurements of the head and neck differed significantly between winners and losers. These results identify musculoskeletal traits associated with competitive ability in male house mice and suggest that our current understanding of mammalian fighting performance is incomplete and more nuanced than previously considered.
published_date 2020-02-07T07:39:14Z
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