naa a22 4500 510744915 CHVBK 20180411083042.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s13364-012-0097-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s13364-012-0097-6 Sex ratio in goitered gazelles ( Gazella subgutturosa Guldenstaedt, 1780) [Elektronische Daten] [David Blank, Weikang Yang] We studied the sex ratio of goitered gazelles in the naturally arid environment of Kazakhstan over a 6-year period. The main methods in our study were taking transect counts and focal observations. The sex ratio of adult goitered gazelles has demonstrated a female bias due to a much higher mortality of males of all ages, especially during years with unusually severe winters. This phenomenon is typical for many polygynous ungulates, as well as other gazelle species. Surprisingly, our data demonstrated monthly fluctuations in sex proportions, along with a bias shift from a female-dominant population during most of the year to a male-dominant population during spring. We discovered, though, that our data did not reflect any real changes in the sex ratio of the population but, instead, revealed the radical changes in behavior of pregnant females before giving birth—hiding from danger in thick shrubs or broken terrain rather than fleeing. As a result, we were not able to see many pregnant females in our spring samples (before birthing), and so received a male-biased population. During the rest of the year (after birthing), females returned to their usual behaviors of fleeing from danger that then gave us a female-biased sex ratio that reflected a more accurate status in sex proportions of the population. So, our results discovered seasonal sex difference in hiding behavior which led to a bias based on visibility. Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland, 2012 Flee behavior nationallicence Hiding behavior nationallicence Polygynous ungulates nationallicence Seasonal changes nationallicence Sexual dimorphism nationallicence Blank David Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 830011, Urumqi, China aut Yang Weikang Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 830011, Urumqi, China aut Acta Theriologica Springer-Verlag 58/1(2013-01-01), 73-78 0001-7051 58:1<73 2013 58 13364 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0097-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0097-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Blank David Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 830011, Urumqi, China aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Yang Weikang Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 830011, Urumqi, China aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Acta Theriologica Springer-Verlag 58/1(2013-01-01), 73-78 0001-7051 58:1<73 2013 58 13364 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer