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Dispersal In A Monogamous Rodent, Peromyscus Californicus, David Ribble

David O Ribble

In view of theoretical interest in the relationships between mating systems and dispersal patterns and the paucity of empirical data on dispersal in monogamous mammals, I studied natal dispersal in the monogamous rodent Peromyscus californicus. Genealogical relationships were determined using fluorescent pigment transfer and DNA fingerprinting, and dispersal distances were determined using dispersal fences and intensive trapping. Minimum dispersal distances were greater for females than for males. Philopatric males (those settling within one home-range diameter of their birth site) tended to be from smaller litters than non-philopatric males. Minimum dispersal distances of males were positively associated with natal litter size …