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American Zoologist 1974 14(1):145-162; doi:10.1093/icb/14.1.145
© 1974 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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The Lek System in Uganda Kob Antelope

HELMUT K. BUECHNER and H. DANIEL ROTH
National Zoological Park and Information Systems Division, Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C. 20560

The tradition with which both male and female Uganda kob return to permanently located territorial breeding grounds (TG's or leks), along with the dispersion of individuals in relationship to a home TG and morphological variation between individuals associated with different TG's, indicates that the total population of kob in the Toro Game Reserve and its vicinity is subdivided into relatively closed breeding units. Mathematical analyses of linear body measurements show significant differences in morphological features between three demes, not only in averages but also in the inter-relatedness of body characteristics, suggesting an underlying genetic integrity within demes. Interdemic gene flow through individuals appears to be inconsequential, but there may be significant gene flow through the formation of temporary TG's.

Altruistic behavior among territorial males may contribute to kinship selection, and the individual kob behavior in response to predation suggests that altruism may have a bearing on the regulation of predation. The lek system of social organization may be significant in maintaining genetic heterogeneity in the kob antelope, which lives in geographically isolated populations throughout its range.


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