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Raleigh J Robertson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Female control of extra-pair fertilization in tree swallows
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1992Co-Authors: Jan T. Lifjeld, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:In a Canadian population of tree swallows, Tachycineta bicolor , DNA fingerprinting has previously shown that half of all broods contain many offspring resulting from extra-pair Copulations (EPCs), whereas the other half contain only legitimate offspring. This bimodal pattern of extra-pair paternity might be due to variation in the effectiveness of male paternity guards, variation in female ability to resist EPCs, and/or variation in female pursuit of EPCs. Here we report experimental evidence for female control of Copulations and fertilizations and the occurrence of two alternative Copulation strategies among females in this population. Ten paired male tree swallows were removed on the day their mates laid the first egg. Replacement males took over the nestbox within 0.5–23 h and attempted to copulate with the widowed female. Assuming that eggs were fertilized approximately 24 h prior to laying, the first two eggs were fertilized before the male was removed, while the third and subsequent eggs could potentially be fertilized by the replacement male. Fingerprinting revealed that the first two eggs were sired by the resident males in five nests and by extra-pair males in the remaining five nests. The widows that had been faithful to their initially chosen mate rejected Copulation attempts by the replacement male until most of the eggs had been laid. Consequently, nearly all eggs laid by these females were sired by the original male. The widows that had been unfaithful prior to male removal copulated sooner with the replacement male than females that were faithful to their mate. However, these replacement males also had a very low fertilization success; most eggs were sired by males that were not associated with the nest. This is consistent with the situation in non-experimental nests where unfaithful females copulate with their mate at the same rate as faithful females, yet unfaithful females have a majority of offspring sired by extra-pair males. We conclude that fertilization patterns to a large extent are determined by the female through active selection and rejection of Copulation partners, though our results also allow some speculation that females have control over sperm competition. Female Copulation tactics are probably determined some currently unknown fitness benefits of having the offspring sired by particular males.
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Copulation behaviour of the tree swallow tachycineta bicolor paternity assurance in the presence of sperm competition
Animal Behaviour, 1991Co-Authors: Lisa A Venier, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:Tree swallows engage in extra-pair Copulations, creating an opportunity for sperm competition. The aim of this study was to determine whether the pattern of within-pair Copulation was consistent with the use of frequent Copulation by the male to assure paternity. Tree swallows attempted Copulation frequently (65 times per clutch), 78% of which resulted in cloacal contact. Copulations were most frequent from 8 days prior to egg laying until early in egg laying. Over the whole season, pairs averaged (±se) 0·53±0·09 Copulations/h in the morning and 0·22±0·05 Copulations/h in the afternoon (N=17 pairs). Early in the breeding season (prior to the egg-laying period), Copulations occurred most often in the early morning. During the laying period, eggs were laid in the early morning and Copulations occurred more often in the afternoon/evening. Females perched less often (and were therefore less available for Copulation) during egg-laying days than directly before. Pairs spent less time together during egg laying than directly before egg laying. There was a trend towards higher Copulation attempt rates under denser nesting conditions. Evidence supports the idea that males are attempting to protect their paternity by frequent Copulation. The results also suggest that females dictate to some extent when Copulations occur such that males do not necessarily copulate at times that are optimal for assuring paternity.
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Occurrence of extra-pair Copulation in the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1990Co-Authors: Scott B. Morrill, Raleigh J RobertsonAbstract:A new method to mark sperm transfer events between birds, using microspheres inserted into males' cloacae, was employed to assess the frequency of extra-pair Copulation (EPC) in a population of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in Ontario, Canada, during the summer of 1988. We inserted 25 males with microspheres; spheres from 8 (32%) of these males were found in extra-pair females, from which we infer that males pursue a mixed reproductive strategy of monogamy coupled with seeking EPCs. The cloacae of 10 of 41 (24.4%) females were found to contain microspheres from non-mates. EPCs occur more frequently between neighboring birds than between non-neighbors. Only two within-pair Copulations were detected with this method, suggesting that it underestimates the occurrence of all Copulations, extra-pair or within-pair. Copulation watches revealed that within-pair Copulations occur very frequently. We propose that frequent pair Copulations are used by males to ensure their paternity in their mate's offspring.
Rianne Pinxten - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Inter-sexual conflicts over Copulations in the European starling: evidence for the female mate-guarding hypothesis
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1995Co-Authors: Marcel Eens, Rianne PinxtenAbstract:Recent studies have suggested that conflicts of interests between the sexes may lead to variation in Copulation behavior among pairs. We examined differences in the rate and timing of Copulation solicitations and Copulations among females of different mating status in the facultatively polygynous starling in an attempt to explain why females copulate repeatedly with their mate. All within-pair Copulations were female-solicited indicating that females control Copulations in the starling. Before egg laying, females solicited Copulations at a high rate (usually more than 2 per hour). In contrast to most other species studied so far, females continued to solicit Copulations throughout the egg laying period, and also solicited after egg laying (the latest solicitation occurred when the nestlings were 4 days old). Primary females solicited more Copulations than monogamous females both during and after the fertile period. Many Copulation solicitations of primary females occurred at the nestbox where their male was singing to obtain an extra female. Both primary and secondary females solicited more Copulations after the egg-laying period than monogamous females. A large proportion of female Copulation solicitations was refused by the male partner: female solicitation resulted in more male refusals in primary females than in monogamous females. Primary females were more likely to be chased aggressively when they solicited a Copulation than monogamous females; most aggressive chases occurred when primary females flew towards their male to solicit Copulation when he was singing at another nestbox. Overall, our results demonstrate that there is a conflict over Copulation between males and females in polygynous pairs. The conflict presumably relates to the cost of sharing male parental investment: females use Copulation solicitation behavior to interrupt their singing males apparently in an attempt to prevent them from becoming polygynous. We present the first empirical evidence that female songbirds use Copulation solicitation behavior as a form of mate guarding, often in a non-reproductive context. We did not find a positive relationship between Copulation rate during the fertile period and the amount of male parental care as is predicted by the paternity confidence hypothesis.
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extra pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism in the european starling sturnus vulgaris evidence from dna fingerprinting
Animal Behaviour, 1993Co-Authors: Rianne Pinxten, Andre A Dhondt, Marcel Eens, Olivier Hanotte, R F Verheyen, Terry BurkeAbstract:Abstract Abstract. The frequency of extra-pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism was determined, using multilocus DNA fingerprinting, in a single population of the European starling during two subsequent breeding seasons. The results were compared with behavioural data about the rates of extra-pair Copulation and intraspecific brood parasitism. Fourteen families including 62 chicks were analysed. Behavioural observations suggested a low level of intraspecific brood parasitism and indeed only one case was detected by DNA fingerprinting. Extra-pair Copulations were not observed, but the DNA fingerprint data revealed six offspring (9·7%) from four broods (28·6%) where the putative father of the chick was not the genetic father. One brood was fathered by three different males. Behavioural observations suggested that at least three cases of extra-pair paternity (three offspring from two broods) could have arisen through rapid mate replacement rather than through extra-pair Copulations. There was no significant evidence that polygynous males suffer from a higher risk of being cuckolded than monogamous males.
Terry Burke - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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male age is associated with extra pair paternity but not with extra pair mating behaviour
bioRxiv, 2017Co-Authors: Antje Girndt, Terry Burke, Charlotte W T Chng, Julia SchroederAbstract:Extra-pair paternity is the result of Copulation between a female and a male other than her social partner. In socially monogamous birds, old males are most likely to sire extra-pair offspring. The male manipulation and female choice hypotheses predict that age-specific male mating behaviour could explain this old-over-young male advantage. These hypotheses have been difficult to test because Copulations and the individuals involved are hard to observe. Here, we studied the mating behaviour and pairing contexts of captive house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Our set-up mimicked the complex social environment experienced by wild house sparrows. We found that middle-aged males, that would be considered old in natural populations, gained most extra-pair paternity. However, both female solicitation behaviour and subsequent extra-pair matings were unrelated to male age. Further, Copulations were more likely when solicited by females than those initiated by males (i.e. unsolicited Copulations), and unsolicited within-pair Copulations were more common than unsolicited extra-pair Copulations. To conclude, our results did not support either hypotheses regarding age-specific male mating behaviour. Instead, female choice, independent of male age, governed Copulation success, especially in an extra-pair context and post-copulatory mechanisms might determine why older males sire more extra-pair offspring.
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Copulation behavior and paternity in the chaffinch
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1994Co-Authors: Ben C. Sheldon, Terry BurkeAbstract:We investigated two aspects of sperm competition in a wild population of chaffinches Fringilla coelebs: Copulation behavior and genetic parentage determined by DNA fingerprinting. Pairs copulated at a high rate before laying, peaking at 4.4 Copulation attempts per hour on day −3 relative to laying, with an average of 207 Copulation attempts (83 behaviorally successful) per clutch. Extra-pair Copulation attempts (n = 20) made up 7.8% of all Copulation attempts that females were involved in. The rate at which pairs copulated was lower during egg-laying, but there was no evidence that this was due to the male of the pair timing Copulations to coincide with an ‘insemination window’; it was more likely due to the fact that females solicited Copulations at a lower rate. Both sexes solicited Copulations but males solicited mainly extra-pair Copulations. DNA fingerprinting showed that 17.0% of chicks (n = 47) in 23% of broods (n = 13) were fathered by a male other than the one paired to their mother. There was no evidence of intraspecific brood parasitism. In three cases where we were able to identify the father of extra-pair offspring it proved to be a neighboring male.
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extra pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism in the european starling sturnus vulgaris evidence from dna fingerprinting
Animal Behaviour, 1993Co-Authors: Rianne Pinxten, Andre A Dhondt, Marcel Eens, Olivier Hanotte, R F Verheyen, Terry BurkeAbstract:Abstract Abstract. The frequency of extra-pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism was determined, using multilocus DNA fingerprinting, in a single population of the European starling during two subsequent breeding seasons. The results were compared with behavioural data about the rates of extra-pair Copulation and intraspecific brood parasitism. Fourteen families including 62 chicks were analysed. Behavioural observations suggested a low level of intraspecific brood parasitism and indeed only one case was detected by DNA fingerprinting. Extra-pair Copulations were not observed, but the DNA fingerprint data revealed six offspring (9·7%) from four broods (28·6%) where the putative father of the chick was not the genetic father. One brood was fathered by three different males. Behavioural observations suggested that at least three cases of extra-pair paternity (three offspring from two broods) could have arisen through rapid mate replacement rather than through extra-pair Copulations. There was no significant evidence that polygynous males suffer from a higher risk of being cuckolded than monogamous males.
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frequent Copulation as a method of paternity assurance in the northern fulmar
Animal Behaviour, 1992Co-Authors: Fiona M Hunter, Terry Burke, S E WattsAbstract:Abstract Male fulmars, Fulmarus glacialis , employ a mixed reproductive strategy, copulating frequently with their mates while also taking opportunities to inseminate other females by extra-pair Copulation. This study combines a complete record of Copulation behaviour with paternity determined by DNA finger-printing in order to establish whether extra-pair Copulations result in extra-pair paternity and to investigate how the fertilizing male achieves paternity. Despite the regular occurrence of extra-pair Copulation (2·4% of all Copulations involved an extra-pair male), no extra-pair paternity was detected in the study population. The upper 95% confidence limit for the population as a whole was 4·6% extra-pair paternity. The fertilizing male in all cases achieved both the greatest number of Copulations relative to any other male and the last Copulation before egg laying. The possible mechanism of paternity attainment in this species is discussed.
Kirsten Klappert - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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sexual conflict over the duration of Copulation in drosophila montana why is longer better
BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2009Co-Authors: Dominique Mazzi, Jenni Kesaniemi, Anneli Hoikkala, Kirsten KlappertAbstract:Background Conflicts of interest between the sexes are increasingly recognized as an engine driving the (co-)evolution of reproductive traits. The reproductive behaviour of Drosophila montana suggests the occurrence of sexual conflict over the duration of Copulation. During the last stages of Copulation, females vigorously attempt to dislodge the mounting male, while males struggle to maintain genital contact and often successfully extend Copulations far beyond the females' preferred duration.
Christine L. Huffard - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Nocturnal mating behaviour and dynamic male investment of Copulation time in the southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)
Behaviour, 2020Co-Authors: Peter Morse, Mark G. Meekan, Mark I. Mccormick, Kyall R. Zenger, Christine L. HuffardAbstract:The southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosaHoyle (1883), is a nocturnal species that exhibits a mating system in which females hold sperm from multiple males over a one to two month breeding window before laying a single egg clutch. Contrary to most studied animal mating systems where anisogamy exists, gamete package production is limited for both males and females of this species (approx. 50 spermatophores/eggs). This presents an animal model for studying aspects of sperm competition and dynamic mate choice behaviours. The present study reports on the mating behaviour of H. maculosaobserved under laboratory conditions using infrared closed-circuit television video footage. Rates of male Copulation attempts increased with male size, while female receptivity to mating attempts increased with female size, resulting in larger animals of both sexes gaining more Copulations and spending more time per day in Copulation. There was some evidence of female preference of larger males, but no male preference of females based on measured morphological traits. Both sexes terminated Copulations in equal frequencies but male-terminated Copulations were significantly shorter in duration. Males were more likely to terminate Copulation early with females they had previously mated with, however were less likely to do so if the female had recently mated with a different male. Among male-terminated Copulations, males mated for longer with females that had previously mated with other males in the trial. Male–male mounts were as common as male–female mounts, suggesting that male H. maculosaare not able to discriminate the sex of conspecifics. These findings suggest male strategic allocation of spermatophores based female mating history is an important factor influencing mating behaviours of this species.
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Mating behavior of Abdopus aculeatus (d’Orbigny 1834) (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) in the wild
Marine Biology, 2008Co-Authors: Christine L. Huffard, Roy L. Caldwell, Farnis BonekaAbstract:The mating system of Abdopus aculeatus incorporates sneaker matings, mate guarding, sex-specific body patterns, frequent Copulations, and male–male competition for mates, making it more similar to that of aggregating decapod cephalopods than any previously known octopus social system. Large male–female A. aculeatus occupy ‘Adjacent’ (G_A) dens and copulate frequently in mate-guarding situations over successive days. Nearby individuals copulate in ‘Temporary guarding’ (G_T) and ‘Transient’ (T; non-guarding) situations, the latter of which can involve ‘Sneaker’ (S) mating. In a focal animal study of these octopuses in the wild (Sulawesi, Indonesia) we addressed the hypotheses that they demonstrate: (1) precopulatory mate choice, (2) differential Copulation rates by individuals employing different mating tactics, and (3) distant sex identification. We quantified daily Copulation rates of A. aculeatus of reproductive size as well as aspects of Copulation duration, display, mate-competition, and mate rejection. Mating tactic correlated with daily Copulation rates. ♂G_A spent significantly more time copulating than did ♂T, while ♀G_A spent more than twice as much time per day in copula than did other females. Sneaker Copulations lasted longer than those by males adopting other tactics. Mate-guarding was an effective and important tactic used by males to temporarily monopolize mating with apparently non-selective females. Males demonstrated clear pre-copulatory mate choice by guarding and mating repeatedly with large females (typically ♀G_A). While foraging alone away from the den, ♂G procured ‘Transient’ Copulations with unguarded females. However, mate-guarding reduced the amount of time ♂G were alone and may impede their ability to seek out new mates. Low-Copulation rates by ♀T, the smallest female tactic on average, may reflect this trade-off between mate preference and mate-searching by males, or non-receptivity of some females. A male-typical body pattern (black and white stripes) appeared to facilitate distant sex identification. Although mating and aggression were often initiated before contact between individuals, same-sex Copulations and intense male–female aggression were rare. By contrast frequent male–female Copulations and intense male–male aggression were consistent behavioral components of mating in A. aculeatus at these sites. Because the behavioral and ecological characters conducive to this complex system are not exclusive to A. aculeatus , it is possible that other octopuses exhibit some or all of these behaviors .