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RAFF MARES ............................................................................................................................................ Now a Research Associate at the Sociable Weaver Research Project
Research during time at LARG Research
interests: In many group living animals where dispersal is typically
delayed,
extraterritorial prospecting allows individuals to assess future
dispersal and
reproductive opportunities. Furthermore, in species where within group
reproduction is monopolized by a dominant pair, prospecting may accrue
current
reproductive success of subordinate individuals, who might otherwise
have
limited breeding opportunities. In cooperatively breeding meerkats (Suricata suricatta), subordinates of
both sexes may eventually disperse, but unlike females, males regularly
conduct
extraterritorial prospecting forays to neighbouring groups prior to
dispersal.
Although differences in investment in prospecting behaviour have
previously
been demonstrated, it is unclear what factors influence the development
of this
behaviour, and how they may lead to differential investment in
prospecting and
mating success later on in life. It is therefore the central aim of my
study to
determine the causes of this variation in prospecting behaviour in
subordinate
male meerkats. Publications
Mares, R., Young, A.J., Levesque, D.L., Harrison, N.& Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2011). Responses to intruder scents in the cooperatively breeding meerkat: sex and social status differences and temporal variation. Behavioral Ecology, 22: 594-600. Mares, R.,
Moreno, R.S., Kays, R.W. & Wikelski, M. (2008). Predispersal home
range shift of an ocelot Leopardus pardalis (Carnivora : Felidae) on
Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Revista
de Biologia Tropical, 56:2, 779-787. Tobler, M.W., Carrillo-Percastegui,
S.E., Leite Pitman, R., Mares, R.
& Powell, G. (2008). An evaluation of
camera traps for inventorying large and medium sized terrestrial
rainforest
mammals. Anim. Conserv., 11,
169–178.
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