Faithful females receive more help: the extent of male parental care during incubation in relation to extra-pair paternity in songbirds

Explaining the evolution of male care has proved difficult. Recent theory predicts that female promiscuity and sexual selection on males inherently disfavour male care. In sharp contrast to these expectations, male-only care is often found in species with high extra-pair paternity and striking variation in mating success, where current theory predicts female-only care. Using a model that examines the coevolution of male care, female care and female choice; I show that inter-sexual selection can drive the evolution of male care when females are able to bias mating or paternity towards parental males. Surprisingly, female choice for parental males allows male care to evolve despite low relatedness between the male and the offspring in his care. These results imply that predicting how sexual selection affects parental care evolution will require further understanding of why females, in many species, either do not prefer or cannot favour males that provide care.

Testing predictions of inclusive fitness theory in inbreeding relatives with biparental care

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2019.1933 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 286 (1916) ◽

pp. 20191933 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Gow ◽

Peter Arcese ◽

Danielle Dagenais ◽

Rebecca J. Sardell ◽

Scott Wilson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Mating System ◽

Feeding Rate ◽

Inclusive Fitness ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Feeding Rates ◽

Extra Pair Paternity ◽

Inclusive Fitness Theory ◽

Parental Feeding ◽

Focal Male

Inclusive fitness theory predicts that parental care will vary with relatedness between potentially caring parents and offspring, potentially shaping mating system evolution. Systems with extra-pair paternity (EPP), and hence variable parent–brood relatedness, provide valuable opportunities to test this prediction. However, existing theoretical and empirical studies assume that a focal male is either an offspring's father with no inbreeding, or is completely unrelated. We highlight that this simple dichotomy does not hold given reproductive interactions among relatives, complicating the effect of EPP on parent–brood relatedness yet providing new opportunities to test inclusive fitness theory. Accordingly, we tested hierarchical hypotheses relating parental feeding rate to parent–brood relatedness, parent kinship and inbreeding, using song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ) experiencing natural variation in relatedness. As predicted, male and female feeding rates increased with relatedness to a dependent brood, even controlling for brood size. Male feeding rate tended to decrease as paternity loss increased, and increased with increasing kinship and hence inbreeding between socially paired mates. We thereby demonstrate that variation in a key component of parental care concurs with subtle predictions from inclusive fitness theory. We additionally highlight that such effects can depend on the underlying social mating system, potentially generating status-specific costs of extra-pair reproduction.

Extra-pair paternity and egg dumping in birds: life history, parental care and the risk of retaliation

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2002.2013 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 269 (1497) ◽

pp. 1263-1269 ◽

Cited By ~ 159

Author(s):

Kathryn E. Arnold ◽

Ian P. F. Owens

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Parental Care ◽

Extra Pair Paternity ◽

Egg Dumping

High paternal investment in unrelated young: extra-pair paternity and male parental care in house martins

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology ◽

10.1007/bf00164155 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 103-108 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

L. A. Whittingham ◽

J. T. Lifjeld

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Paternal Investment ◽

Extra Pair Paternity

Influence of extra-pair paternity on parental care in great tits (Parus major)

DNA Fingerprinting: State of the Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-0348-8583-6_36 ◽

1993 ◽

pp. 379-385 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

T. Lubjuhn ◽

E. Curio ◽

S. C. Muth ◽

J. Brün ◽

J. T. Epplen

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Parus Major ◽

Extra Pair Paternity

Levels of extra-pair paternity are associated with parental care in penduline tits (Remizidae)

Ibis ◽

10.1111/ibi.12446 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 159 (2) ◽

pp. 449-455 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Alex D. Ball ◽

René E. van Dijk ◽

Penn Lloyd ◽

Ákos Pogány ◽

Deborah A. Dawson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Extra Pair Paternity

High paternal investment in unrelated young: extra-pair paternity and male parental care in house martins

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology ◽

10.1007/s0026550370103 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 103-108 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Linda A. Whittingham ◽

Jan T. Lifjeld

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Paternal Investment ◽

Extra Pair Paternity

Ageing: Parental Care and Reproduction Strategies

Journal de Physique I ◽

10.1051/jp1:1995224 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 5 (12) ◽

pp. 1689-1695 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

John Thoms ◽

Peter Donahue ◽

Doug Hunter ◽

Naeem Jan

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Reproduction Strategies

Experimental increase in female mass during the fertile phase leads to enhanced extra-pair paternity in pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

10.32942/osf.io/qrnkb ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Mireia Plaza ◽

Alejandro Cantarero ◽

Juan Moreno

Keyword(s):

Negative Relationship ◽

Ficedula Hypoleuca ◽

Egg Laying ◽

Female Dominance ◽

Laying Date ◽

Control Group ◽

Wing Loading ◽

Potential Fecundity ◽

Fertile Phase ◽

Extra Pair Paternity

Female mass in most altricial birds reaches its maximum during breeding at egg-laying, which coincides temporally with the fertile phase when extra-pair paternity (EPP) is determined. Higher mass at laying may have two different effects on EPP intensity. On the one hand, it would lead to increased wing loading (body mass/wing area), which may impair flight efficiency and thereby reduce female’s capacity to resist unwanted extra-pair male approaches (sexual conflict hypothesis). On the other hand, it would enhance female condition, favouring her capacity to evade mate-guarding and to search for extra-pair mates (female choice hypothesis). In both cases, higher female mass at laying may lead to enhanced EPP. To test this prediction, we reduced nest building effort by adding a completely constructed nest in an experimental group of female pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Our treatment caused an increase in mass and thereby wing loading and this was translated into a significantly higher EPP in the manipulated group compared with the control group as expected. There was also a significant negative relationship between EPP and laying date and the extent of the white wing patch, an index of female dominance. More body reserves at laying mean not only a higher potential fecundity but a higher level of EPP as well. This interaction had not previously received due attention but should be considered in future studies of avian breeding strategies.

Experimentally increased costs of parental care are shunted to offspring in species with extended care

10.32942/osf.io/y8wx4 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gretchen F. Wagner ◽

Emeline Mourocq ◽

Michael Griesser

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Parental Care ◽

Total Duration ◽

Bird Species ◽

Life History Strategy ◽

Experimental Treatment ◽

Cost Of Care ◽

Adult Survival ◽

Supporting Evidence ◽

Trade Offs

Biparental care systems are a valuable model to examine conflict, cooperation, and coordination between unrelated individuals, as the product of the interactions between the parents influences the fitness of both individuals. A common experimental technique for testing coordinated responses to changes in the costs of parental care is to temporarily handicap one parent, inducing a higher cost of providing care. However, dissimilarity in experimental designs of these studies has hindered interspecific comparisons of the patterns of cost distribution between parents and offspring. Here we apply a comparative experimental approach by handicapping a parent at nests of five bird species using the same experimental treatment. In some species, a decrease in care by a handicapped parent was compensated by its partner, while in others the increased costs of care were shunted to the offspring. Parental responses to an increased cost of care primarily depended on the total duration of care that offspring require. However, life history pace (i.e., adult survival and fecundity) did not influence parental decisions when faced with a higher cost of caring. Our study highlights that a greater attention to intergenerational trade-offs is warranted, particularly in species with a large burden of parental care. Moreover, we demonstrate that parental care decisions may be weighed more against physiological workload constraints than against future prospects of reproduction, supporting evidence that avian species may devote comparable amounts of energy into survival, regardless of life history strategy.