On the mating system of polar bears

Abstract

Polar bears are intimately associated with arctic sea ice and their distribution is approximated by its winter extent. They are the only terrestrial mammals, other than humans, to have adapted so completely to sea ice, a quite different habitat, spatially and temporally, from that occupied by other terrestrial mammals. We propose that the dynamics of sea ice and the associated variability in access to food have played a major role in the evolution of the social structure and mating system of polar bears. Adult females and males move to areas of the sea ice where the greatest success in hunting is realized. Such regions are unpredictable in location, however, both seasonally and annually. Because female distributions are unpredictable, adult males are unable to defend stable territories that will encompass the home ranges of one or more females and may instead distribute themselves among different sea-ice habitats at the same relative densities as solitary adult females. Females keep nursing cubs with them for more than 1 year; hence the mean interval is 2 or more years. This results in a functionally skewed sex ratio, with fewer females available to breed in any one year than males, and in intrasexual competition among males for access to breeding females. Consequently, established dominance hierarchies among males are unstable, and wounding, scarring, and breakage of canine teeth are common; these are evidence of direct physical confrontations during the breeding season. Large body size is advantageous in these fights and this has resulted in one of the highest degrees of sexual dimorphism among terrestrial mammals. Because of the functionally skewed sex ratio and the shifting distribution of both females and males, however, even the largest male probably cannot be certain of locating a larger than average number of receptive females in any one breeding season.