Ktuvok question - do the females really have an easier time?

[Mornche Geddick]

Half the male ktuvoks never get to mate, while all the females do, apparently. (It's somewhere on the old board.) But is that really true? A male ktuvok takes more than a year to grow his sperm packet, so he can only mate less than once a year. So he's going to be choosy as a female, if not even moreso. If he has his pick of twenty females, all with estates of their own, he's going to mate with the richest. Nineteen of the she-voks get spurned.

So, aren't those nineteen going to take what they can get, and mate with poorer he-voks, rather than risk never getting an heir? Some of them may well be unsuccessful, if they are low-status, or there just aren't enough males available.

Looks to me that only way females are going to have a reproductive advantage over the males is if the sex ratio is skewed towards males. Is it?

[Dewrad]

A male [...] can only mate less than once a year.

This could explain so much about Ktuvoks: Dhekhnam and Munkhash were the direct result of way too much sexual tension. If it takes them that long to mate, I assume masturbation is a six-month event?

[zompist]

Here's what I wrote earlier:

A male doesn?t begin to develop a sperm packet until he feels rich and secure. Thus, we might divide the male ktuvoks into four quartiles:
? Very successful ones; these will be courted by females, and can be fairly picky about who they choose. Over their lifetimes they will mate with several females (at long intervals).
? Moderately successful ones; these will have to approach females themselves, but are likely to find one in the period while the packet is still usable.
? Ktuvoks who overestimate their desirability; they will produce a packet that no one wants.
? Unsuccessful but realistic ktuvoks; these don?t even waste time producing a packet.
Females have an easier time of it, in that if they have an estate, they can always find a male to mate with. They will seek out the richest males, but if they?re not available they?ll settle for someone else.

So you're right that the top males are picky, though not about the proportion of top males. And there are unsuccessful females-- those without estates.

The females still have a greater investment in offspring-- several years' worth rather than a year-- but the imbalance is much less than in other mammals.

[Mornche Geddick]

So some ktuvoks don't have estates then. How do they live? Do they hunt on someone else's land?

[hwhatting]

So some ktuvoks don't have estates then. How do they live? Do they hunt on someone else's land?

They serve meals at the local McGelalh, as can bee seen here :
http://www.zompist.com/verbio.htm

Best regards,
Hans-Werner

[ketske]

Or more specifically, http://www.zompist.com/ktuvok.jpg

[zompist]

So some ktuvoks don't have estates then. How do they live? Do they hunt on someone else's land?

Oops, forgot that there was an unanswered question here. In the civilized era, ktuvoks without estates will be based on a parent's estate (never near the parent's dwelling, however). They may also take part in the affairs of the empire: as warriors in conquering new territories; as emissaries or enforcers to other estates; as inspectors or objects of worship among the human population.

[Cro Magnon]

Or more specifically, http://www.zompist.com/ktuvok.jpg

Yikes! I bet the customers don't argue much when they get their orders wrong!

[Mornche Geddick]

Or more specifically, http://www.zompist.com/ktuvok.jpg

Yikes! I bet the customers don't argue much when they get their orders wrong!

Eek! Allrightallrightallright! I want fries!