![]() Accordingly, we thus conclude that estimates of reproductive success and fitness in cryptic species, such as copperheads and other snakes, require robust molecular methods to draw accurate conclusions regarding proximate and evolutionary responses. Long-term sperm storage by females, female cryptic choice, and other factors contribute to the complexity of mating success of males. Although behavioural data are important in any mating system analysis, they should not stand alone to infer parentage, relationships or selection metrics (e.g. This relationship has been detected under natural conditions in other species of snakes. Unlike our study, they found that snout-vent length was positively correlated with reproductive success and that males were experiencing greater sexual selection. contortrix of the same population used microsatellite markers to assign parentage of fathers (known mothers). A parallel study conducted on male fitness in A. To our knowledge, this is the first report to show the relationship of testosterone and individual mating success in any snake species. The AICc-selected model (model 2), with testosterone, body condition index, and home range size as predictor variables, showed that male mating success was positively correlated with testosterone. We compared a set of candidate linear mixed models and selected the best-fitting one using the adjusted Akaike Information Criterion (AICc). The single mating season lasts from August through September. Specifically, we investigated the relationships of body size (snout-vent length, body mass), body condition index, spatial metrics (total distance moved, home range size), and plasma testosterone concentration on mating success in males. Here, we investigated proximate determinants of mating success in male copperhead snakes (Agkistrodon contortrix), a medium-sized pitviper of North America. ![]() The opportunity or potential for sexual selection is predicted to occur under these conditions. Males with enhanced traits relative to conspecifics often show increased mating and reproductive success and thus have a fitness advantage. ![]()
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