Genetic relationship between offspring and guardian adults of a rhacophorid frog and its care effort in response to paternal share |
| |
Authors: | Yi-Huey?Chen Wei-Chun?Cheng Email author" target="_blank">Hon-Tsen?YuEmail author Email author" target="_blank">Yeong-Choy?KamEmail author |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Life Science, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan;(2) Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan;(3) Institute of Zoology and Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; |
| |
Abstract: | The rhacophorid frog, Kurixalus eiffingeri, is one of only a few frog species that exhibits polyandry and paternal care of eggs. Previous studies predicted that multiple
paternity within an egg clutch could influence the degree of paternal care and reproductive strategies. We used microsatellite
DNA markers to assess the prevalence of multiple paternity within egg clutches and the relationship between male paternal
care and the percent of male’s genetic contribution to the clutch, i.e., paternal share. We conducted field observations of paternal care and collected tissues from both male frogs and tadpoles
for parentage analyses. Our results showed that at least five out of 31 egg clutches had multiple paternity. Attending males
were always the genetic fathers of some, if not all of the eggs in the clutch they guarded. All egg clutches except one were
attended by one male frog but the attending male did not necessarily sire the majority of offspring. Multiple paternity in
all cases consisted of two fathers and one mother and most likely resulted from synchronous polyandry. Paternal care effort
correlated significantly with the male’s genetic contribution to the clutch, suggesting that male frogs adjust the effort
expended in care in response to paternal share. In addition, our results suggest that externally fertilizing species with
parental care and multiple paternity may develop novel reproductive and behavioral strategies to safeguard their parental
investment and overcome sperm competition. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|