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1.
Soil and preen waxes influence the expression of carotenoid-based plumage coloration 总被引:1,自引:1,他引:0
The signaling function of carotenoid-based plumage is mainly determined by the concentration of pigments in feathers. For
this reason, most studies of the proximate control of coloration focus on processes during and preceding moult. In great tits
Parus major, past research demonstrates that carotenoid-based plumage coloration honestly indicates male quality and, thus, may be a
sexually selected signal. In this study, we investigate how dirt and preen oil influence the coloration of carotenoid-based
feathers in the great tit. We collected six feathers from each individual bird; three feathers served as controls while the
remaining three feathers were washed with a chloroform/methanol mixture to remove soil and preen waxes. We assessed plumage
coloration using digital photography. This cleaning procedure slightly enhanced ornamentation; the experimentally cleaned
feathers expressed hues shifted towards shorter wavelengths and expressed brighter overall coloration than control feathers.
This is the first experimental study conducted on wild birds demonstrating that, in addition to pigment concentration, the
presence of preen waxes and soils on feathers may contribute to variation in coloration. 相似文献
2.
Numerous studies have focussed on the relationship between female choice and the multiple exaggerated sexual traits of males.
However, little is known about the ability of males to actively enhance specific components of their display in response to
the loss of one component. We investigated the capacity of male satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) to respond to the loss of one of their sexual signals by performing an experiment in which we removed decorations at their
bowers. We found that males compensated for decoration loss by increasing bower construction behaviour and decreasing their
latency to bower painting. These results are novel because they suggest that males can assess the quality of their own display
and make decisions about how to augment their displays. We discuss these results in the context of previous studies of mate
choice in satin bowerbirds, as both of the supplementary behaviours we observed are known correlates of male mating success. 相似文献
3.
Jan Narveson 《Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics》1995,8(2):145-156
Environmental Ethics is the ethics of how we humans are to relate to each other about the environment we live in. The best way to adjust inevitable differences among us in this respect is by private property. Each person takes the best care of what he owns, and ownership entails the free market, which enables people to make mutually advantageous trades with those who might use it even better. Public regulation, by contrast, becomes management in the interests of the regulators, or of special interests, such as lovers of rare species-not the people they're supposed to be serving. 相似文献
4.
Costs and benefits associated with matings and the effects of mating frequency on fitness commonly differ between the sexes. As a result, outcrossing simultaneous hermaphrodites may prefer to copulate in the more rewarding sex role, generating conflicts over sperm donation and sperm receipt between mates. Because recent sex role preference models remain controversial, we contrast here some of their assumptions and predictions in the sea slug Chelidonura sandrana. For this hermaphrodite with sperm storage and internal fertilisation, risk-averse models assume that fitness pay-offs are constantly higher in the female than in the male function in any single mating. Moreover, excluding mutual partner assessment, these models predict male mating behaviour to be independent of receiver traits. The competing gender ratio hypothesis assumes that relative fitness pay-offs, and thus the preferred mating roles, vary and may reverse between matings and predicts that ejaculation strategies co-vary with receiver quality. We found that field mating rates of C. sandrana substantially exceeded what is required to maintain female fertility and fecundity, indicating large variation in direct female benefits between matings. We further demonstrate that male copulation duration adaptively increased with partner body size (i.e. fecundity) but decreased with recent partner promiscuity. These findings are compatible with the gender ratio hypothesis but contradict risk-averse models. 相似文献
5.
Experimental evidence of a testosterone-induced shift from paternal to mating behaviour in a facultatively polygynous songbird 总被引:5,自引:2,他引:3
Previous studies have suggested that testosterone (T) profiles of male birds reflect a trade-off between mate attraction behaviours
(requiring high T levels) and parental care activities (requiring low T levels). In this study, we experimentally elevated
T levels of monogamous males in the facultatively polygynous European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and compared mate attraction and paternal behaviour of T-treated males with those of controls (C-males). T-males significantly
reduced their participation in incubation and fed nestlings significantly less often than C-males. Females paired to T-treated
males did not compensate for their mate’s lower paternal effort. The observed reduction in a male’s investment in incubating
the eggs was accompanied by an increased investment in typical female-attracting behaviours: T-males spent a significantly
higher proportion of their time singing to attract additional females. They also occupied more additional nestboxes than C-males,
although the differences just failed to be significant, and carried significantly more green nesting materials into an additional
nestbox (a behaviour previously shown to serve a courtship function). T-males also behaved significantly more aggressively
than C-males. During the nestling period, the frequency of mate-attracting behaviours by T-treated and control males no longer
differed significantly. Despite the reduced paternal effort by T-males and the lack of compensation behaviour by females,
hatching and breeding success did not differ significantly between T- and C-pairs.
Received: 7 February 2000 / Revised: 10 August 2000 / Accepted: 3 September 2000 相似文献
6.
In many salmonid species, males exhibit morphological dimorphism associated with alternative mating behaviors. ”Precocious
males” have a small body size with little or no development of sexual characters and adopt sneaking to gain access to females,
while ”migratory males” of large body size and well-developed secondary sexual characters fight. We quantified selection on
precocious male parr of masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) under simulated natural conditions to examine the contribution of morphology to sneaking success. In contrast to the prediction
that sneaking behavior favors small body size, we detected selection favoring relatively large body size for sneaking success.
This selection pressure was caused by the dominance hierarchy within parr and may have been facilitated by indifference of
dominant migratory males to parr. Unlike the secondary sexual characters exhibited by migratory male salmon, such as the hooked
snout and humped back, no morphological characters other than body size contributed to the reproductive success of masu salmon
parr. This non-contribution may have been responsible for the lack of development of sexual characters in precocious males.
Received: 15 November 1999 / Accepted: 20 May 2000 相似文献
7.
Carlos Navarro Florentino de Lope Anders Pape Møller 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2007,61(8):1161-1168
Homeobox genes regulate development of digits, and it has been suggested that the ratio of length of second to length of fourth
digit reflects such genetic effects in a sex-specific manner. We show that digit ratios in the sexually dichromatic house
sparrow Passer domesticus differ between sexes, with males having higher ratios than females, and that individuals produce consistent ratios on the
two feet. If Homeobox or other genes had pleiotropic effects on development of digits, behavior, and physiology of males and
females, we would expect secondary sexual characters and immunity to be related to digit ratio in a sex-specific manner. The
size of the visible part of the black badge in February (a secondary sexual character), but not total badge size, was positively
correlated with digit ratios, suggesting that males with more male-like digit ratios had larger visible badges. Because of
sex-specific effects of development on secondary sexual characters and immunity, we predicted sex-specific differences in
immune response to be related to digit ratio. House sparrows with large digit ratios had weaker T cell-mediated immune response
than individuals with small digit ratios, particularly in females, implying that females with more male-like digit ratios
had weak immune responses. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that early development, as reflected by digit
ratios, and genetics affect the expression of adult characters that are supposedly strongly contributing to fitness. 相似文献
8.
Kensuke Nakata 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1998,43(4-5):223-227
To optimally allocate resources between workers, reproductive females, and males, ant workers have to be able to identify
the sex of larvae and raise them differently. The ability of workers to discriminate between the sexes in the brood was tested
in colonies of queenless ponerine ants, Diacamma sp., from Japan. The ratio of male eggs in the egg pile was increased experimentally. This manipulation resulted in a corresponding
increase in the ratio of adult males, suggesting that Diacamma workers do not raise the sexes differently.
Received: 4 November 1997 / Accepted after revision: 14 March 1998 相似文献
9.
Characteristics that influence male reproductive success on a lek of Lethrinops c.f. parvidens (Teleostei: Cichlidae) 总被引:1,自引:1,他引:0
Sexual selection has long been proposed as a mechanism leading to the diverse cichlid (Teleostei: Cichlidae) fauna of Lake
Malawi, Africa. Many of the shallow-water, sand-dwelling, bower-building cichlid species are particularly well suited for
studies of sexual selection because they participate in leks. Since females in lekking systems appear to acquire only genetic
material from their mates, it has been suggested that leks are ideal systems to study female mate choice. The objectives of
the investigation were to examine Lethrinops c.f. parvidens male bower characteristics (i.e., bower size and location) as well as other male characteristics (i.e., length, gular color,
and duration on the lek) for their influence on male mating success as measured by the number of visits, circles, and eggs
laid by females. These measures are nested in that a visit by a female may or may not lead to circling, and circling by a
female may or may not lead to egg-laying. We found increased bower height and higher numbers of conspecific neighbors (analogous
to shallow-water, near-shore bower positions) to be positively, significantly associated with the number of visits by females.
The only significant correlate with the number of circles was visits, and similarly circles was the only significant correlate
with the number of eggs laid. The R
2 value for the egg-laying regression was quite low (19.8%) compared with visits (54.3%) and circling (78.9%), suggesting that
females may be using additional cues, that we failed to measure, when in close proximity to males or simply that a small proportion
of the females were ready to spawn. Both indirect selection and direct selection pressure due to egg predation may have influenced
female choice on the lek.
Received: 10 April 1999 / Received in revised form: 26 July 1999 / Accepted: 18 September 1999 相似文献
10.
Ectoparasites of house sparrows (Passer domesticus): an experimental test of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis and a new model 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Conspicuous secondary sexual traits may have evolved as handicap-revealing signals or as badges of status. We present results
of an experiment using males of the sexually dimorphic house sparrow (Passer domesticus), that support the idea that the male-specific bib can be both a handicap-revealing signal and a reliable badge indicating
the physical condition of the bird. In a test of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, wild-caught adult male house sparrows
were studied in captivity. Birds implanted with elevated doses of testosterone were more dominant, had higher circulating
levels of both testosterone and corticosterone and they also harboured relatively larger ectoparasite loads. Higher parasite
loads were also associated with individuals showing lower immunocompetence and larger changes in bib size. A new model for
immunocompetence effects in sexual selection is introduced, integrating actions that the hypothalamopituitary axis exerts
on gonads, adrenals and the thyroid gland. The ”integrated immunocompetence model” synthesizes both the ”handicap” (i.e. survival-decreasing)
and ”badge of status” (i.e. survival- enhancing) models for evolution of secondary sexual traits.
Received: 15 May 1999 / Received in revised form: 2 November 1999 / Accepted: 6 November 1999 相似文献