PRF: Patterns and Causes of Cooperative Polyandry in Tribonyx mortierii (Aves, Rallidae)

一项为期两年的实地研究将检查塔斯马尼亚本地母鸡（Tribonyx mortierii, Rallidae）种群中合作多夫制的生态和进化决定因素。这种不寻常的社会制度，即两只或更多的雄性与一只繁殖中的雌性配对，只在极少数鸟类中发生。一个种群中的一些鸟类不表现出这种交配模式，而是表现出一夫一妻制或一夫多妻制。这项博士后研究将研究决定雄性照顾后代程度的因素，解释这些鸟类中一妻多夫制的发生，以及影响交配模式变化的因素。这项研究包括对一种先前研究过的鸟类的亲代投资、父权、繁殖策略和社会关系的调查。然而，这一物种从未受到如此集中和长时间的研究，包括诱捕和标记，观察和有限的实验现场操作。该研究员在澳大利亚的接待机构将是新英格兰大学。

A two-year field study will examine the ecological and evolutionary determinants of cooperative polyandry in populations of the Tasmanian native hen (Tribonyx mortierii, Rallidae). This unusual social system, in which two or more males pair with a breeding female, occurs in very few bird species. Some birds in a population do not exhibit this mating pattern, but instead show monogamy, or polygyny. This postdoctoral fellowship effort will investigate the factors that determine the extent to which males care for the young, account for the occurrence of polyandry in these birds, and influence mating pattern variation. The study encompasses investigations of parental investment, paternity, reproductive tactics, and social relationships in a previously studied bird. However, this species has never been subjected to such concentrated and prolonged study, which includes trapping and marking, observation, and limited experimental field manipulations. The Fellow's host institution in Australia will be the University of New England.