scholarly journals Sperm competition games when males invest in paternal care

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1860) ◽  
pp. 20171266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo S. Requena ◽  
Suzanne H. Alonzo
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Female Promiscuity ◽  
Male Care ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship

Sperm competition games investigate how males partition limited resources between pre- and post-copulatory competition. Although extensive research has explored how various aspects of mating systems affect this allocation, male allocation between mating, fertilization and parental effort has not previously been considered. Yet, paternal care can be energetically expensive and males are generally predicted to adjust their parental effort in response to expected paternity. Here, we incorporate parental effort into sperm competition games, particularly exploring how the relationship between paternal care and offspring survival affects sperm competition and the relationship between paternity and paternal care. Our results support existing expectations that (i) fertilization effort should increase with female promiscuity and (ii) paternal care should increase with expected paternity. However, our analyses also reveal that the cost of male care can drive the strength of these patterns. When paternal behaviour is energetically costly, increased allocation to parental effort constrains allocation to fertilization effort. As paternal care becomes less costly, the association between paternity and paternal care weakens and may even be absent. By explicitly considering variation in sperm competition and the cost of male care, our model provides an integrative framework for predicting the interaction between paternal care and patterns of paternity.

scholarly journals Paternal care and litter size coevolution in mammals

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1829) ◽  
pp. 20160140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Stockley ◽  
Liane Hobson
Keyword(s):  
Litter Size ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Offspring Production ◽  
Male Care ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Social Behaviours

Biparental care of offspring occurs in diverse mammalian genera and is particularly common among species with socially monogamous mating systems. Despite numerous well-documented examples, however, the evolutionary causes and consequences of paternal care in mammals are not well understood. Here, we investigate the evolution of paternal care in relation to offspring production. Using comparative analyses to test for evidence of evolutionary associations between male care and life-history traits, we explore if biparental care is likely to have evolved because of the importance of male care to offspring survival, or if evolutionary increases in offspring production are likely to result from the evolution of biparental care. Overall, we find no evidence that paternal care has evolved in response to benefits of supporting females to rear particularly costly large offspring or litters. Rather, our findings suggest that increases in offspring production are more likely to follow the evolution of paternal care, specifically where males contribute depreciable investment such as provisioning young. Through coevolution with litter size, we conclude that paternal care in mammals is likely to play an important role in stabilizing monogamous mating systems and could ultimately promote the evolution of complex social behaviours.

scholarly journals Females prefer the calls of better fathers in a Neotropical frog with biparental care

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth A Pettitt ◽  
Godfrey R Bourne ◽  
Mark A Bee
Keyword(s):  
Paternal Care ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Differential Allocation ◽  
Secondary Sexual Traits ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Good Parent ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Male Care ◽  
Sexual Traits

Abstract Male secondary sexual traits potentially function as indicators of direct or indirect fitness benefits to females. Direct benefits, such as paternal care, may be especially important to females in species with biparental care. In an experimental field study of the golden rocket frog (Anomaloglossus beebei), a Neotropical species with biparental care, we tested predictions from four hypotheses proposed to explain the evolutionary relationship between male secondary sexual traits and paternal care quality (the “good parent,” “differential allocation,” “trade-off,” and “essential male care” hypotheses). We examined: 1) the influence of paternal care on offspring survival, 2) the relationships between male calls and paternal care, maternal care, and opportunities for males to acquire multiple mates, and 3) female preferences for three acoustic properties of male advertisement calls. Our results reveal that paternal care positively impacts offspring survival, that males producing longer calls also provide higher-quality paternal care in the form of greater egg attendance and territory defense, and that females prefer longer calls. Females did not discriminate among potential mates based on differences in dominant frequency or call rate. These findings, which suggest male advertisement calls are indicators of potential direct benefits to females in the form of paternal care, are consistent with the good parent hypothesis and inconsistent with the trade-off, differential allocation, and essential male care hypotheses.

Copulation calls in wild Mueller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri)

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-374
Author(s):  
Yoichi Inoue ◽  
Waidi Sinun ◽  
Kazuo Okanoya
Keyword(s):  
Mating System ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Mating Activity ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Female Promiscuity ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Mating activity of a wild Mueller’s gibbon group (Hylobates muelleri) was observed in the Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the function of copulation calls in gibbons. The female emitted copulation calls at the time of intromission and pelvic thrusting. Copulation calls were composed of two notes and one of them was sung only while mating. Approximately half of copulation calls were sung near the range boundary. Mating with copulation calls sometimes occurred while singing. According to the model that female copulation calls have evolved under the selective pressures of risk of infanticide and sperm competition, copulation calls should be rare in species with little female promiscuity. As gibbons usually live in pair-living social organization and have a monogamous mating system, no vocal signals by female gibbons are considered to be needed. However, clear copulation calls were emitted by the female. It suggests that the relationship between paired gibbons is unstable. Copulation calls by the female Mueller’s gibbon may function to increase mate guarding and strengthen the pair bond.

Evolution and Human Fatherhood

2019 ◽  
pp. 177-199
Author(s):  
Adam H. Boyette ◽  
Lee T. Gettler
Keyword(s):  
Paternal Care ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Social Monogamy ◽  
Evolutionary Sequence ◽  
Phylogenetic Distribution ◽  
Pair Bonds ◽  
Male Care ◽  
Developmental Responses ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter reviews research on the evolution of paternal care in humans. It examines human fatherhood within the phylogenetic distribution of paternal care in vertebrates, especially mammals. Phylogenetic comparisons draw out several correlates of paternal care across species, with the most important being social monogamy. Research on the evolution of paternal care in humans has also focused on the relationship between social monogamy and the evolution of paternal care. The chapter reviews this research and major debates around whether male provisioning was a key adaptation in the evolution of pair-bonds and human life history. It discusses evidence for direct male care and summarizes a possible evolutionary sequence of its evolution in humans. It considers studies on the neuroendocrinology of male care in humans, drawing from comparative studies where appropriate. Lastly, this chapter outlines several major biocultural frameworks for understanding population-level patterns of paternal care as integrated, developmental responses to specific socioecological factors.

scholarly journals The costs and benefits of paternal care in fish: a meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1935) ◽  
pp. 20201759
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Goldberg ◽  
Philip A. Downing ◽  
Ashleigh S. Griffin ◽  
Jonathan P. Green
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Selective Pressures ◽  
Male Condition ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Male Care

Male-only parental care, while rare in most animals, is a widespread strategy within teleost fish. The costs and benefits to males of acting as sole carer are highly variable among fish species making it challenging to determine the selective pressures driving the evolution of male-only care to such a high prevalence. We conducted a phylogenetic meta-analysis to examine the costs and benefits of paternal care across fish species. We found no evidence that providing care negatively affects male condition. In contrast with other taxa, we also found limited evidence that male care has evolved as a strategy to improve offspring survival. Instead, we found that males already caring for a brood are preferred by females and that this preference is strongest in those species in which males work harder to care for larger broods. Thus, in fish, investment in offspring care does not constrain a male's mating success but rather augments it, suggesting that the relatively high prevalence of male-only care in fish may be in part explained by sexual selection through female preference for caring males.

scholarly journals Selection against males in Caenorhabditis elegans under two mutational treatments

2006 ◽  
Vol 274 (1608) ◽  
pp. 417-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diogo Manoel ◽  
Sara Carvalho ◽  
Patrick C Phillips ◽  
Henrique Teotónio
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Nematode Species ◽  
Mixed Mating ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Deleterious Alleles ◽  
Ethylmethane Sulphonate ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Relationship

Within populations with mixed mating systems, selfing is expected to be favoured over outcrossing unless a countervailing process such as severe inbreeding depression is present. In this study, we consider the relationship between the expression of deleterious alleles and the maintenance of outcrossing in the nematode species, Caenorhabditis elegans . This species is characterized by an androdioecious breeding system composed of males at low frequency and self-fertilizing hermaphrodites that can only outcross via males. Here, we find that experimentally increasing the mutational load in four different isogenic wild isolates using 10 generations of Ethylmethane sulphonate (EMS) and UV irradiation mutagenesis significantly diminishes the cost of males. Males are maintained at higher frequencies in mutagenized versus non-mutagenized populations. Nevertheless, males still tend to be driven to low frequencies within isolates that are known to be prone to lose males. Further, we determine the viability effects of a single round of mutagen exposure and find that, for EMS, outcrossing overcomes the almost completely recessive and nearly lethal effects generated. We briefly interpret our results in light of current evolutionary theory of outcrossing rates.

Male Parental Care and Extrapair Copulations in the Indigo Bunting

The Auk ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Westneat
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Brood Size ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Mating Effort ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Young Males ◽  
Passerina Cyanea ◽  
Male Care ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Levels of parental care by male Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea) were predicted to be lower and the tendency to pursue extrapair matings greater when (1) the opportunity of additional matings (extrapair copulations) was high, (2) the male was cuckolded, and (3) the clutch or brood size was small. Observations of male care revealed that approximately 10% of all males fed nestlings at least once, whereas more than 30% fed fledglings. Males in their first breeding season were never seen feeding young. Males made more trips off their territories when females were fertilizable on nearby territories, but other measures of parental care (feeding young and time spent within 10 m of nest) were not affected. Cuckolded males (known through genetic analyses of parents and offspring) tended to feed young less often, but forayed off their territories significantly less than apparently uncuckolded males. Finally, males with small clutches or broods gave slightly, but not significantly, less care than males with large clutches or broods. These results suggest that the relationship between mating effort and parental effort is complicated by the presence of extrapair copulations as a type of mating effort, and that factors not included in current theory on parental care might influence a male's parental care.

scholarly journals Human parental effort and environmental risk

2006 ◽  
Vol 274 (1606) ◽  
pp. 121-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Survival Data ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Paternal Involvement ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Parental Effort ◽  
Saturation Point

Parental investment decisions depend on multiple factors, including the extent that parental care benefits offspring. Humans should show reduced parental effort in environments where parenting cannot improve offspring survival. Data from the standard cross-cultural sample are used to test this prediction. The results show that maternal care was inversely associated with famine and warfare, and also showed a quadratic association with pathogen stress, increasing as pathogen stress increased to moderate levels, but decreasing at higher levels. Age at weaning showed a similar quadratic relation with pathogens. The curvilinear associations between parental effort and pathogen stress may reflect that the saturation point of parental care is a function of environmental hazards. Paternal involvement was also inversely related to pathogen stress. The association between pathogens and paternal involvement was partially mediated by polygyny. In sum, maternal and paternal care appears to have somewhat different relations with environmental hazards, presumably owing to sex-specific tradeoffs in reproductive effort.

Breeding behaviour and ecology of the grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kat Munro
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Breeding Ecology ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Confidence Of Paternity ◽  
Four Seasons ◽  
Male Care ◽  
Nest Depredation ◽  
High Level

The grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) is a common Australian flycatcher, yet no detailed reports have been made of its breeding ecology. A population of grey fantails was studied over four seasons in the Australian Capital Territory. Males had large testes and pronounced cloacal protuberances, morphology suggestive of sperm competition. Although two polyandrous trios were observed, most individuals bred as part of a season-long monogamous pair, suggesting that extra-pair copulation may be the principal cause of sperm competition. Indeed, behavioural observations revealed that males regularly intruded other territories, targeting those with building, rather than incubating, females. Intruding males were observed harassing, attempting to copulate and successfully copulating with resident females. Males did not mate guard, but regularly attacked their mates during each building attempt. Despite the probability that extra-pair paternity is common in this species, grey fantails were monomorphic and monochromatic, with a high level of paternal care. Nest depredation was common, with 83% of all clutches depredated before fledging. High levels of male care in care in this species may be better explained by an increase in fledging success associated with high male contribution to offspring care than confidence of paternity.

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