PARENTAL CARE AND PARENTAGE IN MONOGAMOUS GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS (PICOIDES MAJOR) AND MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKERS (PICOIDES MEDIUS)

AbstractPaternal effort is high in some monogamous mating systems. Trivers' (1972) model predicts that high male investment in brood care should evolve only when males have a high certainty of paternity. For this study, we chose two woodpecker species: the great spotted woodpecker (Picoides major) and the middle spotted woodpecker (Picoides medius). Both species were socially monogamous despite a very high breeding density in the study area. We used DNA fingerprinting to determine whether these two species were also genetically monogamous. We found that in great spotted and middle spotted woodpeckers paternal effort was high. Multi-locus DNA-fingerprinting showed that its actual paternity was also very high. In P. major all 161 young from 36 broods and in P. medius all 61 young from 13 broods were sired by the male feeding at the nest hole. There were also no cases of intraspecific brood parasitism or quasi parasitism (P. major: 114 chicks from 24 broods; P.medius: 33 chicks from 8 broods). We further found no case of mate switching during the fertile period of the female. Great spotted and middle spotted woodpeckers are typical of a group of monogamous nonpasserine birds with high male investment in brood care having low frequencies of EPP. We did not find efficient paternity guards. High certainty of paternity may be explained by paternal care being essential for female reproductive success, as in many seabirds and birds of prey. Females rarely engage in extra-pair copulations probably because they are constrained by male care. Males in both species spend little effort in acquiring mates as well as in extrapair copulations. They expend their reproductive effort in defending territories and in parental care. Females compete intensely with members of their own sex for pair formation before the time of frequent copulation. Choosing and securing a high quality partner is the only possibility to achieve high reproductive success for both sexes.

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The terrestrial breeding biology of the ranid rock frog Nannophrys ceylonensis

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/1568539042265653 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 141 (7) ◽

pp. 899-913 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

◽

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Parental Care ◽

Site Fidelity ◽

Nest Site ◽

Hatching Success ◽

Paternal Care ◽

Adult Males ◽

Nest Sites ◽

Nest Site Fidelity ◽

Males And Females

Abstract Nannophrys ceylonensis (Ranidae) is a terrestrial breeding anuran, found on wet vertical or near-vertical rock surfaces. Non-breeding adult males and females take refuge in separate crevices in the rock surfaces during the day and emerge at night to forage. Males can be polygynous; mating takes place inside crevices. Fathers exhibit paternal care for multiple clutches of eggs and guard eggs from predators. Paternal care of this species is obligatory; hatching success decreases without it. Females do not contribute to parental care. Males show nest site fidelity and defend territories against conspecifics. A scarcity of suitable nest sites may limit reproductive success in N. ceylonensis. Larvae hatch at Gosner stages 21-22 and leave their nests at stages 24-25 to live as truly terrestrial tadpoles, foraging on the rock surfaces near their natal nests.

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Cyphoderris Strepitans (Orthoptera: Haglidae): Reproductive Biology and Geographical Distribution

The UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports ◽

10.13001/uwnpsrc.1980.2213 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 53-57

Author(s):

Darryl Gwynne

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Reproductive Success ◽

National Parks ◽

Egg Production ◽

Paternal Care ◽

Common Species ◽

Male Reproductive Success ◽

Male Investment ◽

Cyphoderris Strepitans ◽

Variance In Reproductive Success

Cyphoderris strepitans Morris and Gwynne is a common species of nocturnal insect in many sagebrush areas within Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. It is a primitive orthopteran group, a relict of the ancient family Haglidae. Only five species in three genera are currently known (Morris and Gwynne 1978, Storozhenko 1980). Males produce a calling song by rubbing their forewings together. Females are attracted to male song; during mating the female feeds on the tissues of the male's fleshy underwings. Virgin and non-virgin males can, therefore, be distinguished by examining their underwings. At the end of mating the male transfers a large proteinaceous spermatophore which the female also consumes. The main objective of this study has been to investigate the role and consequences of the male investment in his underwings and spermatophore (see Morris and Gwynne 1979). Female katydids use spermatophore proteins for egg production (Gwynne and Toalson unpublished) so these nutrients can be regarded as an important male investment likely to influence patterns of sexual selection within this group. Trivers (1972) outlined the theory of parental investment and its influence on sexual selection. Females, because they produce fewer larger gametes (eggs) are usually the limiting sex for the males which have a relatively large number of small gametes (sperm). As a result, males are predicted to maximize reproductive success by competing with each other to inseminate as many females as possible. Females, because they are limited by their fewer gametes will not gain by competing for copulations. Instead they should enhance reproductive success by being selective about which males fertilize their eggs. Sexual selection should, therefore, be stronger on males since competition for mates should produce a greater variance in the reproductive success of this sex (i.e., some males obtain few or no mates while others mate frequently). Males can offset the initial disparity of investment in gametes by investing parentally via paternal care of eggs or offspring or, as in many insects, by feeding the female with prey items or glandular products (Thornhill 1976). These sorts of male investments should decrease the variance in reproductive success of these males because the males are more "female like" in their reproductive strategy i.e., competing less because they reduce the number of potential copulations engaged in due to the large nutrient investment in each copulation. In orthopterans such as Cyphoderris where females feed on male-produced nutrients the following predictions emerge: (1) females should select a mate who is likely to provide more of the nutrient; (2) as mentioned above, the variance in male reproductive success should be low; few males should go unmated. Previous work in Grand Teton National Park has indicated that females may prefer Cyphoderris males who can supply more nutrients. Significantly more virgin males are mated than non-virgins (Morris and Gwynne 1979). Virgins are likely to be a better mate choice for females since they have not only more wing material but also would have large reproductive accessory glands capable of producing a full sized spermatophore. The main purpose of this season's work was to investigate the variance in reproductive success of males. An effort was also made to further collect information on the distribution of C. strepitans in and around Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. This information is presented first. (* Erratum: pp. 51 and 52 should be 56 and 57)

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Facultative adjustment of paternal care in the face of female infidelity in dunnocks

10.1101/158816 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Eduardo S. A. Santos ◽

Shinichi Nakagawa

Keyword(s):

Parental Care ◽

Statistical Approach ◽

Paternal Care ◽

Fitness Costs ◽

Fledging Success ◽

Male Effect ◽

Socially Monogamous ◽

The Face ◽

Fitness Benefits ◽

Certainty Of Paternity

AbstractA much-debated issue is whether or not males should reduce parental care when they lose paternity (i.e. the certainty of paternity hypothesis). While there is general support for this relationship across species, within-population evidence is still contentious. Among the main reasons behind such problem is the confusion discerning between-from within-individual patterns. Here, we tested this hypothesis empirically by investigating the parental care of male dunnocks (Prunella modularis) in relation to paternity. We used a thorough dataset of observations in a wild population, genetic parentage, and a within-subject centring statistical approach to disentangle paternal care adjustment within-male and between males. We found support for the certainty of paternity hypothesis, as there was evidence for within-male adjustment in paternal care when socially monogamous males lost paternity to extra-pair sires. There was little evidence of a between-male effect overall. Our findings show that monogamous males adjust paternal care when paired to the same female partner. We also show that – in monogamous broods – the proportion of provisioning visits made by males yields fitness benefits in terms of fledging success. Our results suggest that socially monogamous females that engage in extra-pair behaviour may suffer fitness costs, as their partners’ reduction in paternal care can negatively affect fledging success.

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Nest tending increases reproductive success, sometimes: environmental effects on paternal care and mate choice in flagfish

Animal Behaviour ◽

10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.12.013 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 74 (3) ◽

pp. 577-588 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Rebecca E. Hale ◽

Colette M. St Mary

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Mate Choice ◽

Environmental Effects ◽

Paternal Care

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Clutch quality is related to embryonic development duration, hatchling body size and telomere length in the spined toad (Bufo spinosus)

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society ◽

10.1093/biolinnean/blab035 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 133 (1) ◽

pp. 135-142

Author(s):

Marion Cheron ◽

Frédéric Angelier ◽

Cécile Ribout ◽

François Brischoux

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Embryonic Development ◽

Parental Care ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Mate Selection ◽

Hatching Success ◽

Egg Quality ◽

Parental Quality ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

Development Duration

Abstract Reproductive success is often related to parental quality, a parameter expressed through various traits, such as site selection, mate selection and energetic investment in the eggs or progeny. Owing to the complex interactions between environmental and parental characteristics occurring at various stages of the reproductive event, it is often complicated to tease apart the relative contributions of these different factors to reproductive success. Study systems where these complex interactions are simplified (e.g. absence of parental care) can help us to understand how metrics of parental quality (e.g. gamete and egg quality) influence reproductive success. Using such a study system in a common garden experiment, we investigated the relationships between clutch hatching success (a proxy of clutch quality) and offspring quality in an amphibian species lacking post-oviposition parental care. We found a relationship between clutch quality and embryonic development duration and hatchling phenotype. We found that hatchling telomere length was linked to hatching success. These results suggest that clutch quality is linked to early life traits in larval amphibians and that deciphering the influence of parental traits on the patterns we detected is a promising avenue of research.

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A Genetically Marked I Element in Drosophila melanogaster Can Be Mobilized When ORF2 Is Provided in trans

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/148.1.267 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 148 (1) ◽

pp. 267-275

Author(s):

Isabelle Busseau ◽

Sophie Malinsky ◽

Maria Balakireva ◽

Marie-Christine Chaboissier ◽

Danielle Teninges ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Heat Shock ◽

Reverse Transcriptase ◽

Germ Line ◽

Ltr Retrotransposons ◽

Low Frequencies ◽

High Frequencies ◽

In Trans ◽

Very High Frequencies ◽

Very High

Abstract I factors in Drosophila melanogaster are non-LTR retrotransposons similar to mammalian LINEs. They transpose at very high frequencies in the germ line of SF females resulting from crosses between reactive females, devoid of active I factors, and inducer males, containing active I factors. The vermilion marked IviP2 element was designed to allow easy phenotypical screening for retrotransposition events. It is deleted in ORF2 and therefore cannot produce reverse transcriptase. IviP2 can be mobilized at very low frequencies by actively transposing I factors in the germ line of SF females. This paper shows that IviP2 can be mobilized more efficiently in the germ line of strongly reactive females in the absence of active I factors, when it is trans-complemented by the product of ORF2 synthesized from the hsp70 heat-shock promoter. This represents a promising step toward the use of marked I elements to study retrotransposition and as tools for mutagenesis.

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Energy Expenditure in Reproductive Effort of Male and Female Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/105.3.553 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 105 (3) ◽

pp. 553-564 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Dianne H. Brunton

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Energy Expenditure ◽

Parental Care ◽

Breeding Season ◽

Reproductive Effort ◽

Mating Effort ◽

Parental Effort ◽

Nest Failure ◽

Male And Female ◽

Charadrius Vociferus

Abstract The reproductive investment strategies of the sexes during the breeding season are detailed for Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), a monogamous plover. I measured the energy investments of the sexes in reproductive, mating, and parental effort. As predicted, males expend more mating effort than females; however, the sexes expend equal amounts of parental effort. Total energy expenditure in reproductive effort (mating and parental effort) during a successful nesting attempt was also equal for the sexes. However, early parental effort expenditures by females, early mating effort expenditures by males, and high rates of nest failure combine to result in female reproductive energy expenditures being significantly higher over the breeding season. This suggests that energy expenditure alone is not adequate for accurate comparisons of the relative investments of the sexes. Studies investigating male and female investments need to consider the degree and pattern of nest failures along with patterns of energy expenditure. The advantages to male and female Killdeer of sharing parental care is demonstrated using adult removal experiments. In general, a deserted parent expends more energy in parental effort than a bi-parental parent and has significantly lower reproductive success. However, males are able to hatch chicks, whereas females lose or abandon their nests within a few days of mate removal. Thus, monogamy in Killdeer appears to result from high nest failure rates, the necessity of two parents for any reproductive success, and the generalizable nature of Killdeer parental care.

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Show me you care: female mate choice based on egg attendance rather than male or territorial traits

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/araa051 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 1054-1064 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anyelet Valencia-Aguilar ◽

Kelly R Zamudio ◽

Célio F B Haddad ◽

Steve M Bogdanowicz ◽

Cynthia P A Prado

Keyword(s):

Mate Choice ◽

Parental Care ◽

Paternal Care ◽

Genetic Relatedness ◽

Female Mate Choice ◽

Male Reproductive Success ◽

Offspring Survival ◽

Territory Quality ◽

Female Mate

Abstract Female mate choice is often based on male traits, including signals or behaviors, and/or the quality of a male’s territory. In species with obligate paternal care, where care directly affects offspring survival, females may also base their mate choices on the quality of a sire’s care. Here, we quantified male reproductive success in a natural population of the glass frog Hyalinobatrachium cappellei, a species with male parental care, to determine the influence of territory quality, male traits, and paternal care behaviors on female mate choice. We found that attending males have a higher chance of gaining new clutches than nonattending males. Our results indicate that females do not select males based only on body condition, calling persistence, or territory traits. Instead, our findings support the hypothesis that females choose males based on care status. Indeed, males already attending a clutch were 70% more likely to obtain another clutch, and the time to acquire an additional clutch was significantly shorter. We also found that males adjust their parental care effort in response to genetic relatedness by caring only for their own offspring; however, remaining close to unrelated clutches serves as a strategy to attract females and increase chances of successful mating. Thus, males that establish territories that already contain clutches benefit from the signal eggs provide to females.

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