Extrapair mate choice and honest signaling in cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wrens
Extrapair mate choice and honest signaling in cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wrens
复制标题
DOI：
10.1111/j.1558-5646.1999.tb05387.x
复制
发表时间：
1999-06-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Cockburn, A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dunn, PO;Cockburn, A
在许多种类的一夫一妻制鸟类中，雌性与其他雄性交配，而不是与它们的社会伴侣交配，导致了对外受精。对于女性如何选择合适的伴侣，以及选择伴侣时所使用的特征是否能可靠地反映男性的品质，人们知之甚少。在这里，我们发现了一种新的雄性特征，这种特征与超群交配成功有关。超群交配是一种合作繁殖的鸟类，已知超群交配的频率最高。雌性细尾鹩莺选择了更早蜕皮为繁殖羽毛的群体外配偶。雄性在繁殖季节开始前五个月就蜕皮了，只有在繁殖季节开始前至少一个月蜕皮的雄性才能获得任何额外的群体受精。这一结论是在控制了年龄和社会地位对蜕皮日期的影响后得出的。一旦雄性获得了繁殖羽毛，它们就开始向其他领地的雌性求爱。因此，在繁殖季节开始前几个月，一些雄性会向雌性求爱。这种异常长时间的广告可能是由长期的领土所有权所促进的。我们认为，早期获得繁殖羽毛或随后的展示行为可能是择偶的可靠线索，因为它们的获得或维持成本很高。
In many species of monogamous birds females copulate with males other than their social mates, resulting in extrapair fertilizations. Little is known about how females choose extrapair mates and whether the traits used to choose them are reliable indicators of male quality. Here we identify a novel male trait associated with extra-group mating success in the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus), a cooperatively breeding bird with one of the highest known frequencies of extra-group mating. Female fairy-wrens chose extra-group mates that molted earlier into breeding plumage. Males molted up to five months before the breeding season began, and only males that molted at least one month prior to its onset gained any extra-group fertilizations. This conclusion held after controlling statistically for the effect of age and social status on molt date. Once males acquired breeding plumage, they began courtship display to females on other territories. Thus, some males were displaying to females for several months before the breeding season began. This extraordinarily long period of advertisement by males may be facilitated by the long-term ownership of territories. We suggest that early acquisition of breeding plumage or the subsequent display behavior can be reliable cues for mate choice because they are costly to acquire or maintain.