COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Reproductive Sharing and Fitness in Cooperative Societies

橡子啄木鸟(Melanerpe Formicivorus)的交配系统是所有脊椎动物中最复杂的：群体由多达7只繁殖雄性、多达3只繁殖雌性和数量可变的助手(前几年留在出生领土上而不繁殖的后代)组成。雄鸟竞相交配，雌鸟在同一个巢中共同产卵。同性的饲养者几乎总是近亲，要么是兄弟姐妹，要么是父母和后代。以前的研究表明，雌性的联合筑巢群体与男性不同，它们平等地分享亲子关系。这个项目将确定影响橡子啄木鸟社会生殖共享的因素，方法是将对有颜色标记的鸟类进行的田野调查与现代分子技术相结合，以识别在社会群体中成功繁殖后代的个体，并量化它们的行为。该项目的一个主要目标是了解合作繁殖的健康后果，并将研究结果整合到更大的问题中，即高度社会化物种(包括人类)中群体的进化和生态。

The mating system of the acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) is among the most complex of any vertebrate: groups consist of up to seven breeding males, as many as three reproductive females and a variable number helpers (offspring of previous years that remain on the natal territory and do not breed). Males compete to mate and females lay their eggs communally in the same nest. Breeders of the same sex are almost always close relatives, either siblings or parents and offspring. Previous work showed that joint-nesting groups of females, unlike males, share parentage equally. This project will determine the factors that influence reproductive sharing in acorn woodpecker societies by combining fieldwork on color-marked birds with modern molecular techniques to identify individuals that successfully produce young within social groups and to quantify their behavior. A primary goal of the project is to understand the fitness consequences of cooperative breeding and to integrate findings into the larger questions of the evolution and ecology of group living in highly social species, including humans.