Age-dependent changes in infidelity in Seychelles warblers
Autor: | David S. Richardson, Sara Raj Pant, Terry Burke, Hannah L. Dugdale, Martijn Hammers, Jan Komdeur |
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Přispěvatelé: | Komdeur lab, Conservation Ecology Group, Dugdale group |
Rok vydání: | 2019 |
Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine Senescence Male Offspring media_common.quotation_subject Population Paternity Seychelles 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Songbirds 03 medical and health sciences Sexual Behavior Animal Genetics Acrocephalus Animals WITHIN-PAIR Passeriformes REPRODUCTIVE-PERFORMANCE education Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics media_common Aged education.field_of_study BIRDS biology Reproductive success Reproduction Longevity EXTRA-PAIR PATERNITY INDIRECT SELECTION biology.organism_classification EVOLUTION MATE CHOICE 030104 developmental biology Mate choice SENESCENCE PARENTAGE ASSIGNMENT Female GREAT TITS Demography |
Zdroj: | Molecular Ecology, 29(19), 3731-3746. Wiley |
ISSN: | 1365-294X 0962-1083 |
Popis: | Extra-pair paternity (EPP) is often linked to male age in socially monogamous vertebrates; that is, older males are more likely to gain EPP and less likely to be cuckolded. However, whether this occurs because males improve at gaining paternity as they grow older, or because “higher quality” males that live longer are preferred by females, has rarely been tested, despite being central to our understanding of the evolutionary drivers of female infidelity. Moreover, how extra-pair reproduction changes with age within females has received even less attention. Using 18 years of longitudinal data from an individually marked population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis), we found considerable within-individual changes in extra-pair reproduction in both sexes: an early-life increase and a late-life decline. Furthermore, males were cuckolded less as they aged. Our results indicate that in this species age-related patterns of extra-pair reproduction are determined by within-individual changes with age, rather than differences among individuals in longevity. These results challenge the hypothesis—based on longevity reflecting intrinsic quality—that the association between male age and EPP is due to females seeking high-quality paternal genes for offspring. Importantly, EPP accounted for up to half of male reproductive success, emphasizing the male fitness benefits of this reproductive strategy. Finally, the occurrence of post-peak declines in extra-pair reproduction provides explicit evidence of senescence in infidelity in both males and females. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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