Secondary Reproductive Strategies

大多数哺乳动物是杂交性的，只有少数物种形成了一夫一妻制的伴侣关系，但到目前为止，鸟类中最常见的模式是一夫一妻制。自然选择有利于繁殖速度最快、效率最高的个体，尤其是对男性而言，一夫一妻制极大地限制了个体一生中所能生育的后代数量。因此，为了了解为什么一夫一妻制在鸟类中如此普遍，必须调查这种交配系统对雄性和雌性的成本和好处。虽然一夫一妻制通常被认为是水禽的典型交配制度，但最近的研究表明，严格的一夫一妻制在这些鸟类中可能会发生变化。在一些种类的鸭子中，配对的雄性与雌性交配，而不是它们的配偶，有些雄性能够同时拥抱两个配偶。在雄性帮助配偶保护小鸭子的物种中，这种重婚行为导致了繁育三人组成员之间复杂的利益冲突。麦金尼博士将研究这种关系是如何形成的，以及它们如何影响相关雄性和雌性在南美斑点蓝宝石中的繁殖成功。麦金尼博士已经在圈养环境中对这种物种进行了多年的研究，它非常适合进行详细的分析，因为雄性在照顾父母方面的贡献各不相同。将需要田野和鸟类技术的结合。因此，阿根廷和秘鲁将对单独标记的鸟类进行研究，以补充对圈养鸟群中鸟类之间关系的密集长期监测。麦金尼博士对圈养和实地研究的仔细结合，将为我们提供对脱离严格的一夫一妻制的最近机制和功能意义的见解，从而对我们从总体上理解复杂的社会制度做出巨大贡献。

Most mammals are promiscuous, only a few species forming monogamous pair bonds, but in birds monogamy is by far the commonest pattern. Natural selection favors individuals that reproduce most rapidly and efficiently and, especially for males, monogamy places great restrictions on the numbers of offspring that can be produced in an individual's lifetime. Therefore, to understand why monogamy is so common in birds, the costs and benefits of this mating system to males and females must be investigated. Although monogamy is generally considered to be the typical mating system of waterfowl, recent studies have shown that variations on strict monogamy can occur in these birds. In some species of ducks, paired males court and copulate with females other than their mates, and some males are able to hold two mates simultaneously. In species where males help their mates protect the ducklings, such bigamous behavior leads to complex conflicts of interests among the members of breeding trios. Dr. McKinney will investigate how such relationships are formed, and how they affect the reproductive success of the males and females concerned, in the South American speckled teal. Dr. McKinney has studied this species in captivity for several years, and it is ideally suited for detailed analysis because males are variable in their contributions to parental care. A combination of field and aviary techniques will be needed. Therefore, individually marked birds will be studied in Argentina and Peru to complement intensive long-term monitoring of relationships among the birds in a captive flock. Dr. McKinney's careful combination of captive and field studies will provide insights into both the proximate mechanisms and the functional significance of departures from strict monogamy, and thus will contribute a great deal to our understanding of complex social systems in general.