Paternity in eastern grey kangaroos: Moderate skew despite strong sexual dimorphism

Abstract

Understanding sexual selection requires adequate measures of reproductive success. In wild mammals, reliable data on variation in male reproductive success are available for very few species. We assessed the distribution of paternities and quantified skew in male reproductive success in 2 populations of a marsupial with strong sexual dimorphism, the eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) over 5 years. We assigned fathers to 356 juveniles, or 79% of those with known mother. We found a relatively weak mating skew and the most successful males did not monopolize a large fraction of paternities. Nearly half of the adult males we monitored fathered at least 1 young. The yearly opportunity fo..