Figure 4: Two 2nd-order alliances whose males form trios (top) or pairs (bottom).
From: Male alliance behaviour and mating access varies with habitat in a dolphin social network
If two females are available for each 2nd-order alliance, each male in the trio-forming 2nd-order alliance will be scored in a consortship, but a consortship will be scored for only four of six males in the pair-forming 2nd-order alliance. This will lower the overall consortship rate for the pair-forming 2nd-order alliance relative to the trio-forming group.
