Why do female Columbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus) give an estrus call?

Abstract

Female Columbian ground squirrels ( Spermophilus columbianus (Ord, 1815)) sometimes emit a repetitive vocalization after copulation. We examined two possible explanations for why sexual selection would favor expression of these “estrus calls”: to encourage sperm competition through mating with additional males and to increase mate guarding by the consort male as a mechanism of postcopulatory female mate choice. During three annual mating periods, we observed mating behaviour, estrus calls, and postcopulatory behavioural interactions of free-ranging individuals. Predictions of the advertisement hypothesis were supported, as females typically solicited courtship interactions with nonconsort males directly after emitting an estrus call. Thus, females that emitted an estrus call were more likely to acquire additional matings than noncalling females, particularly if calls were emitted after the female’s first mating. These results were not consistent with predictions of the postcopulatory female mate choice hypothesis, as calling females should initiate social contact with the consort male and stay proximate to the copulatory site after copulation if they are encouraging mate guarding. For reasons that remain unclear, the probability that an estrus call would follow mating increased linearly with the age of the consort male. However, our results taken together suggest that estrus advertisement is the most likely social context of female postcopulatory calling.