Mate preference does not influence reproductive motivation and parental cooperation in female zebra finches

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (12-13) ◽  
pp. 1885-1901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ákos Pogány ◽  
Zita Szurovecz ◽  
Ernő Vincze ◽  
Zoltán Barta ◽  
Tamás Székely
Keyword(s):  
Local Population ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Mate Preference ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Lower Baseline ◽  
Mate Removal ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Female Mating Preferences ◽  
Clutch Mass

In socially monogamous species, low availability of sexually active unpaired individuals in the local population may constrain mate choice, resulting in mating with sub-optimal partners. Here we experimentally investigate whether female reproductive behaviour is different when paired with a preferred or a non-preferred male in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). First, we assessed female mating preferences using a four-way choice apparatus, then females were caged together with either their preferred or least-preferred male. Female reproductive motivation, assessed by the propensity of laying eggs within two weeks from pairing and clutch mass, did not differ between the two experimental groups. Females responded to mate removal by either increasing their care, so as to compensate for the lost care of their mate, or by significantly reducing incubation. This bimodal response was not explained by mate preference, nevertheless, we found that females with lower baseline (i.e., pre-manipulation) incubation effort were more likely to cease incubation during mate removal. Taken together, we found no evidence that female reproductive behaviour varies along with mate preference.

scholarly journals Sexual Selection and Tail-Length Dimorphism in Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers

The Auk ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan V. Regosin ◽  
Stephen Pruett-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Tail Length ◽  
Female Tail ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Early Arrival ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Clutch Initiation ◽  
Beak Length

Abstract Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (Tyrannus forficatus) exhibit elongated tails in both sexes, and sexual dimorphism in tail length. At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, during 1991 and 1992, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers exhibited sexual dimorphism (male–female) in tail length (1.48), with more moderate sexual dimorphism in wing length (1.09) and beak length (1.04). Based on an analysis of museum specimens, immature birds (<1 year of age) of both sexes in their first calendar year exhibited significantly shorter tails than adults (measured in the field). Furthermore, tail length was highly variable among both sexes relative to other morphological traits. Male tail length was correlated with early clutch initiation by the male's mate and, in 1991, with larger clutch size. Similarly, female tail length was correlated with early clutch initiation, and, in one year, larger clutches. Longer-tailed females also tended to arrive earlier on the breeding grounds in 1992, the only year for which such data were available. Assortative mating by tail length was observed. Those findings support the hypothesis that tail length is a sexually selected trait in this socially monogamous species, and that female tail length may be correlated with measures of female quality (e.g. early arrival and breeding, large clutches). However, confounding effects of age on tail length make it difficult to distinguish among various hypotheses for evolution of elongated tails in this species.

scholarly journals Fitness Benefits of Mate Choice for Compatibility in a Socially Monogamous Species

PLoS Biology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. e1002248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malika Ihle ◽  
Bart Kempenaers ◽  
Wolfgang Forstmeier
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Fitness Benefits

scholarly journals Sex-specific differential survival of extra-pair and within-pair offspring in song sparrows, Melospiza melodia

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1722) ◽  
pp. 3251-3259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca J. Sardell ◽  
Peter Arcese ◽  
Lukas F. Keller ◽  
Jane M. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Female Offspring ◽  
Melospiza Melodia ◽  
Differential Survival ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Life History Stages ◽  
Song Sparrows ◽  
Survival Difference ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Average Survival ◽  
Socially Monogamous

It is widely hypothesized that the evolution of female extra-pair reproduction in socially monogamous species reflects indirect genetic benefits to females. However, a critical prediction of this hypothesis, that extra-pair young (EPY) are fitter than within-pair young (WPY), has rarely been rigorously tested. We used 18 years of data from free-living song sparrows, Melospiza melodia , to test whether survival through major life-history stages differed between EPY and WPY maternal half-siblings. On average, survival of hatched chicks to independence from parental care and recruitment, and their total lifespan, did not differ significantly between EPY and WPY. However, EPY consistently tended to be less likely to survive, and recruited EPY survived for significantly fewer years than recruited WPY. Furthermore, the survival difference between EPY and WPY was sex-specific; female EPY were less likely to survive to independence and recruitment and lived fewer years than female WPY, whereas male EPY were similarly or slightly more likely to survive and to live more years than male WPY. These data indicate that extra-pair paternity may impose an indirect cost on females via their female offspring and that sex-specific genetic, environmental or maternal effects may shape extra-pair reproduction.

Intraspecific Variation in Courtship and Copulation Frequency: an Effect of Mismatch in Partner Attractiveness?

Behaviour ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 127 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 265-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Petrie ◽  
Fiona M. Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Pair Formation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Copulation Behaviour

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to present a verbal theoretical model that could account for the among pair variability in courtship and copulation behaviour that occurs both during and after pair formation in socially monogamous species. We assume that copulation acts to prevent mate loss, by reducing the availability of an individual to other potential partners. Variation in copulation and courtship frequency then arises as a result of variation in the risk of mate loss. Because of the constraints on free or ideal choice, pairs will form in which it may be possible for one individual to improve upon the quality of its partner. In a mismatched pair it will pay the poorer quality mate to guard the higher quality individual and prevent it from leaving to pair with a better quality mate. The poor quality individual will therefore solicit copulations at a high frequency while it's partner may not always respond. We predict that high levels of courtship and solicitation will relate to a high risk of mate loss and that a lack of response by a partner will relate to the potential opportunities it has to improve on partner quality. Our thesis is that variation in mating behaviour arises as a result of any deviations from assortative mating that may exist in a population.

scholarly journals Why inclusive fitness can make it adaptive to produce less fit extra-pair offspring

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1801) ◽  
pp. 20142716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jussi Lehtonen ◽  
Hanna Kokko
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Reproductive Season ◽  
Breeding Systems ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Social Monogamy ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Fitness Benefits

Social monogamy predominates in avian breeding systems, but most socially monogamous species engage in promiscuous extra-pair copulations (EPCs). The reasons behind this remain debated, and recent empirical work has uncovered patterns that do not seem to fit existing hypotheses. In particular, some results seem to contradict the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis: females can prefer extra-pair partners that are more closely related to them than their social partners, and extra-pair young can have lower fitness than within-pair young. Motivated by these studies, we show that such results can become explicable when an asymmetry in inbreeding tolerance between monogamy and polygamy is extended to species that combine both strategies within a single reproductive season. Under fairly general conditions, it can be adaptive for a female to choose an unrelated social partner, but inbreed with an extra-pair partner. Inbreeding depression is compensated for by inclusive fitness benefits, which are only fully realized in EPCs. We also show that if a female has already formed a suboptimal social bond, there are scenarios where it is beneficial to engage in EPCs with less related males, and others where EPCs with more related males increase her inclusive fitness. This has implications for detecting general relatedness or fitness trends when averaged over several species.

scholarly journals The role of genetic constraints and social environment in explaining female extra-pair mating

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daiping Wang ◽  
Wolfgang Forstmeier ◽  
Katrin Martin ◽  
Alastair Wilson ◽  
Bart Kempenaers
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Power ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Genetic Constraints ◽  
Female Promiscuity ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Pair Mating ◽  
Extra Pair Mating

AbstractWhy females of socially monogamous species copulate with males other than their partner has been a long-standing, unresolved puzzle. We previously reported that female promiscuity appears to be a genetic corollary of male promiscuity (intersexual pleiotropy hypothesis). Here we put this earlier finding to a critical test using the same population of zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. After three generations of artificial selection on male courtship rate, a correlate of extra-pair mating, we assess whether female promiscuity changed by indirect selection and we re-examine the crucial genetic correlations. Our new analyses with substantially increased statistical power clearly reject the hypothesis that male and female promiscuity are genetically homologous traits. Our study highlights that individual females show low repeatability in extra-pair mating behavior across different social environments. This emphasizes the potential importance of pair bond strength and the availability of favored extra-pair males as factors explaining variation in patterns of female promiscuity.

scholarly journals When should cuckolded males care for extra-pair offspring?

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1739) ◽  
pp. 2877-2882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jannis Liedtke ◽  
Lutz Fromhage
Keyword(s):  
Theory Model ◽  
Brood Care ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Male Brood ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
The Face ◽  
Breeding Attempt ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Counterintuitive Result

In socially monogamous species with bi-parental care, males suffer reduced reproductive success if their mate engages in extra-pair copulations (EPCs). One might therefore expect that males should refuse to care for a brood if they can detect that an EPC has occurred. Here, we use a game-theory model to study male brood care in the face of EPCs in a cooperatively breeding species in which offspring help to raise their (half-) siblings in their parents' next breeding attempt. We show that under certain conditions males are selected to care even for broods completely unrelated to themselves. This counterintuitive result arises through a form of pseudo-reciprocity, whereby surviving extra-pair offspring, when helping to rear their younger half-siblings, can more than compensate for the cost incurred by the male that raised them. We argue that similar effects may not be limited to cooperative breeders, but may arise in various contexts in which cooperation between (half-) siblings occurs.

scholarly journals Constrained mate choice in social monogamy and the stress of having an unattractive partner

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1719) ◽  
pp. 2798-2805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon C. Griffith ◽  
Sarah R. Pryke ◽  
William A. Buttemer
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Elevated Level ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Reproductive Investment ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Social Monogamy ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Experimental Introduction

In socially monogamous animals, mate choice is constrained by the availability of unpaired individuals in the local population. Here, we experimentally investigate the physiological stress endured by a female (the choosy sex) when pairing with a non-preferred social partner. In two experimental contexts, female Gouldian finches ( Erythrura gouldiae ) socially paired with poor-quality mates had levels of circulating corticosterone that were three to four times higher than those observed in females that were paired with preferred mates. The elevated level of this stress hormone in response to partner quality was observed within 12 h of the experimental introduction and maintained over a period of several weeks. Our findings demonstrate the extent of intra-individual conflict that occurs when individuals are forced to make mate-choice decisions that are not perfectly aligned with mate-choice preferences. The elevated level of corticosterone also suggests a mechanistic route through which females might adaptively manage their responses to intersexual conflict over reproductive investment.

scholarly journals Chemosensation and genetic individuality

Reproduction ◽  
2001 ◽  
pp. 529-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
PB Singh
Keyword(s):  
Major Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Immune System ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Mate Preference ◽  
Genetic Constitution ◽  
Mhc Molecules ◽  
Histocompatibility Complex ◽  
Genetic Individuality ◽  
Allele Specific

Numerous studies have shown that there are measurable behavioural consequences that can result from the olfactory recognition of alleles borne at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). These consequences include simple individual recognition, disassortative mate preference, discrimination of kin from non-kin and whether a pregnancy is carried to term. Such a system, which can influence the reproductive behaviour of a species, will have profound effects on its genetic constitution and survival. The likely mechanism responsible for the production of MHC-related odours involves soluble MHC molecules that carry allele-specific odoriferous molecules from the blood via the kidneys into the urine, from where they are released into the environment. The ability of soluble MHC molecules to signal genetic individuality in this way may have evolved before the appearance of an acquired immune system in our immediate ancestors, the protochordates.

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