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1.
To establish a complete understanding of reproductive variability, larval supply and ultimately population demographics of
a species it is important to determine reproduction across a broad spectrum of environmental conditions. This study quantified
sexual reproduction of the brooding, gonochoristic sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile from populations across the shelf reefs of the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Histological sections of reproductive sponges
collected at increasing distances from the coast were used to determine if numbers of reproductive sponges, reproductive output
(using a reproductive output index), size at sexual maturity, and sex ratios varied according to their location (distance)
from the coastline and therefore from influences of terrigenous/riverine discharge. Significantly higher proportions of reproductive
sponges occurred with increasing distance from the coast. The proportion of all reproductive sponges (both male and female)
on offshore reefs ranged from 77 to 90%, during November and December, the peak reproductive months of this sponge, compared
to 47 to 50% for sponges occurring on coastal reefs. Levels of female reproduction increased with increasing distance from
the coastline on two levels. First, oocytes from offshore sponges were significantly larger than oocytes from coastal sponges.
Second, sponges from offshore reefs showed a reproductive index (proportions of oocytes, embryos and larvae mm−2) approximately 15 times higher than coastal reef sponges. Therefore, both numbers of oocytes, embryos and larvae in conjunction
with larger oocytes contribute to a higher reproductive output index for offshore sponges. The production of spermatic cysts
in males was consistent across the GBR. Sex ratios for coastal reef sponges showed a male bias while offshore sponges showed
approximate equal sex ratios. The effect of terrigenous riverine input from coastal fluvial plains to the inner GBR is well
established and is likely to contribute to the lower levels of reproduction associated with female sponges inhabiting coastal
reefs of the central GBR. 相似文献
2.
Jonathan N. Pruitt Susan E. Riechert David J. Harris 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(10):1957-1966
Relatively few investigations explicitly test for concordant versus conflicting selection pressures from intrasexual versus
intersexual selection. Here, we examine the effects of male body mass and behavioral type (BT) on reproductive success in
the spider Anelosimus studiosus, with emphasis placed on the potential interaction between intrasexual and intersexual selection influences. Female A. studiosus exhibit either an aggressive-active or docile-passive BT, both of which co-occur in multifemale colonies. Males, in contrast, exhibit a more continuous distribution of
behavioral tendencies. We investigated the male traits favored by females in five trial types: one docile female, one aggressive
female, four docile females, four aggressive females, and two docile and two aggressive females. Male reproductive success
was estimated by the number eggs produced by females following staged mating trials. In previous work, it was established
that large aggressive males are favored in male–male contests, an intrasexual effect. However, large aggressive males were
not universally favored here. We failed to detect an effect of male body mass or aggressiveness on reproductive success in
trials with all docile females; however, in situations involving aggressive females, large aggressive males experienced diminished
reproductive success relative to small docile males. Large, aggressive males were also more likely to be attacked and killed
by aggressive females in the first 20 min of staged encounters and were more likely to be found dead after 72 h of unobserved
interactions. Taken together, our data suggest that the reproductive consequences of male traits differ based on (1) the aspect
of sexual selection being considered (intrasexual versus intersexual) and (2) the BT of their prospective mates: large aggressive
males enjoy advantages in intrasexual selection and when courting docile females and small docile males experience reduced
risk of cannibalism and increased reproductive success with aggressive females. 相似文献
3.
Rafael Márquez 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1993,32(4):283-291
Summary One population of the midwife toad species Alytes obstetricans and one of A. cisternasii were studied in Spain for two consecutive reproductive seasons. Males that were most successful at hatching a high proportion of their clutch did not obtain more matings. On the other hand, in both species larger body size conferred a significant reproductive advantage on males. These results are explained mainly by the increased number of mates obtained by larger males, probably as a result of female choice. The selection gradients for body size in males (regressions of reproductive success on body size) were not significantly different within species between years nor between species within the same period of time. Hatching success (proportion of the eggs hatched) was not correlated with male body size in A. obstetricans. Hatching success in A. cisternasii was weakly negatively correlated with male body size in 1988. 相似文献
4.
Reproductive success among clonal taxa is often portrayed as a simple function of clone size, but reproduction in Pseudoplexaura porosa (Houtuyn), a common Caribbean gorgonian, reflects a more complex relationship between size and gamete production. Tagged
colonies were sampled at two reefs in the San Blas Islands, Panama during the 1995 spawning season to determine the colony
size at first reproduction, size-dependent polyp fecundities, and whole colony gonad production, and to follow the gametogenic
cycle. Additional data were obtained during non-spawning months in 1984 and 1985. Of 120 colonies ranging in height from 20
to 250 cm, only colonies taller than 50 cm were reproductive. An average of 4.33 oocytes polyp−1, 560 to 800 μm in diameter, were released during monthly synchronous spawning events from June to September. Oocytes released
each month developed from a group of intermediate size oocytes present at the end of the preceding month. Almost all oocytes
>560 μm were released during each spawning event. Spermatogenesis was a shorter process than oogenesis. During each spawning
month, mature spermaries developed from a group of <125 μm spermaries. Virtually all spermaries >190 μm were released each
month, and most of the spermary volume in mature male polyps was generated anew each month of spawning. Among reproductive
colonies, polyp fecundity increased with colony height from 50 to 200 cm. Per capita fecundity of >200 cm tall female colonies
was lower than for 150 to 200 cm colonies, but whole colony fecundity of large colonies was greater due to the exponential
increase in the number of polyps that occurs with increasing colony height. In male colonies, both polyp and colony reproductive
output increased with colony height. The large amounts of sperm produced by large male colonies probably contributes to the
high rates of in situ fertilization observed in P. porosa. Differences in fecundity as a function of colony size and sex suggest differences in some combination of the cost of reproduction
and/or allocation of resources to reproduction.
Received: 9 September 1998 / Accepted: 7 June 1999 相似文献
5.
P. J. Cordero S. C. Griffith J. M. Aparicio D. T. Parkin 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2000,48(5):353-357
Recent evidence has revealed an apparently high degree of control by female birds over the physiological aspects of their
reproduction and offspring sex allocation, consistent with adaptive hypotheses of sex allocation and differential investment
in their offspring. In the house sparrow, we investigated possible mechanisms that may be used by females to enhance the fitness
returns from a reproductive effort. Using molecular techniques, we demonstrate that house sparrow eggs containing male embryos
are significantly larger than those containing female embryos. We also found that male embryos were laid randomly with respect
to laying order. We speculate that this sexual dimorphism of eggs is adaptive, because male house sparrows show greater variance
in condition-dependent reproductive success than females. More important, the result provides further evidence of the ability
of females to detect or control ovulation of either male or female ova and to differentially invest in one sex over the other.
Received: 19 January 2000 / Revised: 29 June 2000 / Accepted 20 July 2000 相似文献
6.
The global decline in reef health has prompted the need for effective management methodologies, including the development
of active restoration measures. One such approach is the ‘gardening concept’ that involves use of underwater nurseries where
coral fragments are farmed before their transplantation into denuded reefs. Here we document enhanced sexual reproduction
in colonies of the coral Stylophora pistillata cultured in mid-water floating nursery situated in nutrient enriched water, near the fish farms in Eilat, Red Sea. We found
that after 2 years of nursery, the average number of oocytes per polyp in farmed colonies was ca. 35% higher than in corresponding
naturally growing colonies. Small branches in the nursery developed gravid colonies that released equal (or more) numbers
of planula larvae as compared to similar size, 5-year old naturally growing colonies. These nursery-borne planulae possessed
more zooxanthellae and contained more chlorophyll per larva. While settled and metamorphosed in equal rates compared to planulae
originated from reef-grown colonies, the nursery borne planulae developed faster growing young colonies. We estimate that
a coral nursery could generate, during the reproductive season, tens of millions of planula larvae and therefore should be
regarded as a ‘larval dispersion hub’ that can be used as a management tool for natural recruitment enhancement. 相似文献
7.
Brady A. Porter Anthony C. Fiumera John C. Avise 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2002,51(4):350-359
In a variety of fish species with paternal care of offspring, females prefer to spawn in nests that already contain eggs.
This female preference has been hypothesized to explain egg thievery in male sticklebacks, allopaternal care of eggs in minnows,
and the evolution of egg-mimicking body features in male cichlids and darters. Here we employ microsatellite-based parentage
analyses to evaluate the reproductive success of striped darter (Etheostoma virgatum) males that appear to utilize two of these functionally related tactics to entice females to spawn in their nests. In an
isolated population (Clear Creek, Ky.), we observed that breeding males develop conspicuous white spots on their pectoral
fins. If these spots are egg mimics, as we suspect, then this represents the fourth independent evolutionary origin of egg
mimicry documented to date in darters, the first based on pigmentation (as opposed to physical structures), and the first
in which the egg mimics vary greatly in number among males. From direct counts of microsatellite genotypes in clutches of
embryos, at least 3.8 females contributed to the progeny within a typical nest, and females tended to spawn preferentially
with males that were larger and displayed more egg-mimic spots. In another population (Hurricane Creek, Tenn.) without egg
mimics, the multi-locus genetic data document that allopaternal care is common, especially among the smallest males who sometimes
tend nests containing their own as well as an earlier sire's offspring. Thus, these foster males had adopted egg-containing
nests and then successfully spawned with subsequent females. Overall, the genetic data on paternity and maternity, in conjunction
with field observations, suggest that egg mimicry and allopaternal care are two mate-attracting reproductive tactics employed
by striped darter males to exploit female preferences for spawning in nests with 'eggs'.
Electronic Publication 相似文献
8.
Piyamas Nanork Siriwat Wongsiri Benjamin P. Oldroyd 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2006,61(1):91-97
Honeybee (Apis) workers cannot mate, but retain functional ovaries. When colonies have lost their queen, many young workers begin to activate their ovaries and lay eggs. Some of these eggs are reared, but most are not and are presumably eaten by other workers (worker policing). Here we explore some of the factors affecting the reproductive success of queenless workers of the red dwarf honeybee Apis florea. Over a 2-year period we collected 40 wild colonies and removed their queens. Only two colonies remained at their translocated site long enough to rear males to pupation while all the others absconded. Absconding usually occurred after worker policing had ceased, as evidenced by the appearance of larvae. Dissections of workers from eight colonies showed that in A. florea, 6% of workers have activated ovaries after 4 days of queenlessness, and that 33% of workers have activated ovaries after 3 weeks. Worker-laid eggs may appear in nests within 4 days and larvae soon after, but this is highly variable. As with Apis mellifera, we found evidence of unequal reproductive success among queenless workers of A. florea. In the two colonies that reared males to pupation and which we studied with microsatellites, some subfamilies had much higher proportions of workers with activated ovaries than others. The significance of absconding and internest reproductive parasitism to the alternative reproductive strategies of queenless A. florea workers is discussed. 相似文献
9.
Kapheim KM Bernal SP Smith AR Nonacs P Wcislo WT 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(6):1179-1190
Developmental maternal effects are a potentially important source of phenotypic variation, but they can be difficult to distinguish
from other environmental factors. This is an important distinction within the context of social evolution, because if variation
in offspring helping behavior is due to maternal manipulation, social selection may act on maternal phenotypes, as well as
those of offspring. Factors correlated with social castes have been linked to variation in developmental nutrition, which
might provide opportunity for females to manipulate the social behavior of their offspring. Megalopta genalis is a mass-provisioning facultatively eusocial sweat bee for which production of males and females in social and solitary
nests is concurrent and asynchronous. Female offspring may become either gynes (reproductive dispersers) or workers (non-reproductive
helpers). We predicted that if maternal manipulation plays a role in M. genalis caste determination, investment in daughters should vary more than for sons. The mass and protein content of pollen stores
provided to female offspring varied significantly more than those of males, but volume and sugar content did not. Sugar content
varied more among female eggs in social nests than in solitary nests. Provisions were larger, with higher nutrient content,
for female eggs and in social nests. Adult females and males show different patterns of allometry, and their investment ratio
ranged from 1.23 to 1.69. Adult body weight varied more for females than males, possibly reflecting increased variation in
maternal investment in female offspring. These differences are consistent with a role for maternal manipulation in the social
plasticity observed in M. genalis. 相似文献
10.
Determining the evolutionary basis of variation in reproductive skew (degree of sharing of reproduction among coexisting individuals) is an important task both because skew varies widely across social taxa and because testing models of skew evolution permits tests of kin selection theory. Using parentage analyses based on microsatellite markers, we measured skew among female eggs (n=32.3 eggs per colony, range=20–68) in 17 polygynous colonies from a UK field population of the ant Leptothorax acervorum. We used skew among eggs as our principal measure of skew because of the high degree of queen turnover in the study population. Queens within colonies did not make significantly unequal contributions to queen and worker adult or pupal offspring, indicating that skew among female eggs reflected skew among daughter queens. On average, both skew among female eggs (measured by the B index) and queen–queen relatedness proved to be low (means±SE=0.06±0.02 and 0.28±0.08, respectively). However, contrary to current skew models, there was no significant association of skew with either relatedness or worker number (used as a measure of productivity). In L. acervorum, predictions of the concession model of skew may hold between but not within populations because queens are unable to assess their relatedness to other queens within colonies. Additional phenomena that may help maintain low skew in the study population include indiscriminate infanticide in the form of egg cannibalism and split sex ratios that penalize reproductive monopoly by single queens within polygynous colonies. 相似文献
11.
Daniel A. Warner Kevin L. Woo Daniel A. Van Dyk Christopher S. Evans Richard Shine 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(5):803-813
The complex ritualized displays of males in many territorial species suggest that selection has shaped male behaviors in ways
that affect fitness. In this study, we evaluated the link between display behavior during male–male interactions and reproductive
success in the Australian jacky dragon (Amphibolurus muricatus), a lizard species that uses a complex series of movement patterns for communication. We quantified variation in male display
behaviors by using video playback experiments in the laboratory, and subsequently assessed variation in male reproductive
success by paternity analyses of offspring. Because the lizards used in this study came from eggs incubated under three thermal
environments, we also could evaluate the impact of developmental temperature on adult behavior and reproductive success. Incubation
temperature had a strong effect on male reproductive success; males produced under intermediate temperatures sired more offspring
than those produced under extreme developmental temperatures. However, incubation temperature did not affect male display
behavior, nor was male behavior associated with reproductive success. Our findings do not support the common assumption that
display behaviors used during male–male interactions affect reproductive success. 相似文献
12.
Recent studies have demonstrated that mating with multiple males can be beneficial for females and her offspring even if males contribute nothing but sperm. This was mainly established for species in which sperm from several males mix in the reproductive tract of the female, thus allowing sperm competition and/or female sperm choice. However, in species with last male sperm precedence, female re-mating decides against the previous male by strongly limiting his reproductive success. We tested the effect of female re-mating behaviour using the cellar spider Pholcus phalangioides, which shows strong last males sperm precedence and moderate levels of polyandry under natural situations. We predicted that females prevented from remating even though they are receptive would show reduced reproductive success compared to females that accept two copulations and females that reject a second male, since the latter two treatments were allowed to behave according to their decisions. However, if the number of matings per se had an effect on oviposition or on offspring performance, double-mated females should perform better compared to both treatments of once-mated females. We measured female fecundity and fertility over a period of 140 days, comparable to the species' natural reproductive peak season. Two thousand one hundred and fifty-two offspring from 67 first egg sacs were reared under two feeding levels. We registered development time and survival, and measured offspring adult size and mass. We found a positive effect of double mating, as in this treatment, oviposition probability was higher compared to the other treatments. Interestingly, adult female offspring of the DM treatment that were raised under low food level had a higher condition index compared to those from FS and RM, but development time, size and mass at adulthood were not affected by mating treatment. Female choice only seemed to affect hatching latency of the offspring. Overall, the main predictor of female reproductive output and success was female body size. 相似文献
13.
Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati Diego Rubolini Manuela Caprioli Roberto Ambrosini Maria Romano Nicola Saino 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2011,65(9):1779-1790
Transfer of maternal hormones to the eggs is a major source of offspring phenotypic variation. The developmental and organizational
effects of egg hormones can extend into adulthood and affect behavioral and morphological traits involved in sexual and reproductive
behavior, with important consequences for offspring fitness. In this study, we injected testosterone (T) in egg albumen of
captive ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) eggs. We then assessed the consequences for chick growth, cell-mediated immunity, and multiple male secondary sexual traits
at maturity by comparison with a control group. We also compared the covariation between traits in the two experimental groups.
We found that control males had redder wattles than males from T-injected eggs, suggesting that attractiveness and reproductive
success of the offspring might vary depending on maternal transfer of T to the eggs. T treatment also modified the covariation
between cell-mediated immunity and wattle coloration and between the area of the wattle and the expression of another secondary
sexual trait, the ear tufts. These effects are likely to translate into fitness differences among the offspring if mate acquisition
depends on the simultaneous expression of several traits that are differentially affected by the same maternal contribution.
Maternal effects mediated by egg hormones might affect the fitness of the offspring not only by directional modification of
phenotypic traits, but also by facilitating or inhibiting their covariation. This suggests the possibility that female choice
based on the relative expression of multiple secondary sexual traits exerts a pressure on how maternal transfer of androgens
contributes to developmental programs. 相似文献
14.
Thomas Breuer Andrew M. Robbins Claudia Olejniczak Richard J. Parnell Emma J. Stokes Martha M. Robbins 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2010,64(4):515-528
Variance in male reproductive success is expected to be high in sexually dimorphic mammals, even when it is modulated by the
costs and benefits of group living. Here, we investigate the variance in reproductive success of male western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), a highly dimorphic primate with long-term male–female associations, using 12.5 years of data collected at Mbeli Bai in
northern Congo. Access to mates and offspring survival were both major sources of variance in male reproductive success. Males
with larger harems had lower offspring mortality with no apparent reduction in female fertility or observed tenure length,
so the size of harems did not seem to be limited by female feeding competition or by the risk of takeovers and infanticide
by outsider males. The lower mortality in larger harems may reflect improved vigilance against predators, and females may
cluster around males that enhance offspring survival. Thus, this study illustrates how a detailed analysis of the components
of male reproductive success can shed light on the interrelated social and ecological aspects that affect it. 相似文献
15.
This study examined the occurrence and effects of inbreeding in the sessile, colonial hermaphrodite Celleporella hyalina. The results are discussed with regard to theoretical explanations for the prevalence of hermaphroditism in sessile clonal organisms. C. hyalina exhibited inbreeding depression at all stages, including the pre-zygotic. Outcrossing, sib and half-sib matings produced offspring but selfing did not. There was inbreeding depression in embryo production and survival. Inbred colonies showed slower growth and later maturation, with fewer reproductive zooids. The relative numbers of male and female zooids were affected by inbreeding; increased production of males is a sign of stress in C. hyalina. When mated with an outbred non-relative, inbred colonies had lower success both as males and as females in embryo production and offspring survivorship. The low survivorship of embryos fathered by inbred colonies is a clear effect of inbreeding on the F2 generation. These results indicate that C. hyalina is unlikely to inbreed in the wild, supporting the "space-limited" model of hermaphroditism for this species. This study indicates that hermaphroditism, by avoiding much of the cost of sex, can confer optimal reproductive fitness for sessile brooding animals in a space-limited habitat even in the absence of inbreeding. 相似文献
16.
Abstract: Success of captive‐breeding programs centers on consistent reproduction among captive animals. However, many individuals do not reproduce even when they are apparently healthy and presented with mates. Mate choice can affect multiple parameters of reproductive success, including mating success, offspring production, offspring survival, and offspring fecundity. We investigated the role of familiarity and preference on reproductive success of female Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) as measured by litter production, litter size, average number of young that emerged from the burrow, and average number of young that survived to 1 year. We conducted these studies on pygmy rabbits at the Oregon Zoo (Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.) and Washington State University (Pullman, Washington, U.S.A.) from February to June 2006, 2007, and 2008. Before mating, we housed each female adjacent to 2 males (neighbors). Female preference for each potential mate was determined on the basis of behavioral interactions observed and measured between the rabbits. We compared reproductive success between females mated with neighbor and non‐neighbor males and between females mated with preferred and nonpreferred males. Our findings suggest that mating with a neighbor compared with a non‐neighbor and mating with a preferred neighbor compared with a nonpreferred neighbor increased reproductive success in female pygmy rabbits. Litter production, average number of young that emerged, and average number of young that survived to 1 year were higher in rabbits that were neighbors before mating than in animals who were not neighbors. Pairing rabbits with a preferred partner increased the probability of producing a litter and was significantly associated with increased litter size. In captive breeding programs, mates are traditionally selected on the basis of genetic parameters to minimize loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding coefficients. Our results suggest that integrating genetic information with social dynamics and behavioral measures of preference may increase the reproductive output of the pygmy rabbit captive‐breeding program. Our findings are consistent with the idea that allowing mate choice and familiarity increase the reproductive success of captive‐breeding programs for endangered species. 相似文献
17.
Male limitation of female reproductive success in a pipefish: effects of body-size differences 总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2
Summary In the pipefish Syngnathus typhle, a species with exclusive male parental care, males limit female reproductive success because of their limited brood pouch space and long pregnancy. Sexual size dimorphism is absent in these 1-year-old animals but increases with age so that older females are larger than similarly aged males. Because fecundity is related to size in both sexes and increases more rapidly with body size in females than in males, the difference in growth increases female fecundity more, relative to male fecundity, as the fish get older. We therefore predicted that male limitation of female reproductive success is even more severe when all age classes are considered. To measure a female's maximum reproductive rate, she was provided with three males. Small 1-year-old females produced as many eggs, or produced eggs at the same rate, as a male of similar size could care for. Small females filled on average 1.06 males within the time span of one male pregnancy and actually produced on average 10 eggs fewer than needed to fill a similarly sized male. Large 2-year-old females, in contrast, produced on average a surplus of 149 eggs and filled 2.7 similarly sized males within the course of one pregnancy. The difference between females of the two size classes was highly significant. Males prefer to mate with larger females if given a choice. In nature sex ratios are equal, and males limit female reproductive success in the whole population. Therefore, small females are more severely constrained by mate availability than are larger females because males choose to mate with larger females.
Offprint requests to: A Berglund 相似文献
18.
Pheromone-based female mate choice and its effect on reproductive investment in a spitting spider 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
Teck Hui Koh Wee Khee Seah Laura-Marie Y. L. Yap Daiqin Li 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》2009,63(6):923-930
Numerous studies have focused on whether organisms can signal or perceive pheromones and use chemical signals in species and
mate recognition. Recently, there have been an increasing number of studies investigating whether pheromones are used in mate
choice. Yet, little attention has been paid in exploring the effects of pheromone-based mate choice on reproductive investment.
We first tested this hypothesis by providing virgin Scytodes sp. females with a choice between two virgin males in the presence of chemical signals alone and found strong evidence of
an odor-based mate preference. We then examined the consequences of the odor-based mate choice by allowing female Scytodes sp. that had previously made an odor-only mate choice to mate with preferred and non-preferred males, respectively. We measured
the success of copulation, mortality of male, pre-oviposition interval, egg-sac weight, egg weight, fecundity, fertility,
embryonic period, and size of offspring at hatching. Females that mated with the preferred males produced significantly heavier
egg sacs that contained more and larger eggs with a greater fertility. Significantly more non-preferred males than preferred
males were killed by spitting. However, pre-oviposition interval, embryonic period, and hatchling size were not affected by
female mate choice. This study is the first to demonstrate that female spiders are able to regulate their highly valuable
reproductive investment based solely on chemical signals. 相似文献
19.
The occurrence of male pregnancy in the family Syngnathidae (seahorses, pipefishes, and sea dragons) provides an exceptionally
fertile system in which to investigate issues related to the evolution of parental care. Here, we take advantage of this unique
reproductive system to study the influence of maternal body size on embryo survivorship in the brood pouches of pregnant males
of the broad-nosed pipefish, Syngnathus typhle. Males were mated with either two large females, two small females, a large then a small female, or a small then a large
female. Our results show that offspring survivorship depends on an interaction between female body size and the number of
eggs transferred by the female. Eggs of larger females deposited in large numbers are more likely to result in viable offspring
than eggs of smaller females laid in large numbers. However, when females deposited smaller numbers of eggs, the eggs from
smaller females were more likely to produce viable offspring compared to those from larger females. We found no evidence that
this result was based on mating order, the relative sizes of competing females, or egg characteristics such as dry weight
of eggs. Additionally, male body size did not significantly influence the survivorship of offspring during brooding. Our results
suggest that the factors underlying offspring survivorship in pipefish may be more complex than previously believed, with
multiple factors interacting to determine the fitness of individual offspring within the broods of pregnant males. 相似文献
20.
Peter B. S. Spencer Alan B. Horsup Helene D. Marsh 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1998,43(1):1-9
The reason why a female who is socially paired to one particular male seeks extra-pair copulations (EPCs) with others has
important implications in life history models and to the study of behaviour. The Allied rock-wallaby, Petrogale assimilis, lives in spatially isolated colonies in tropical north Queensland, Australia. Extensive observations of a colony at Black
Rock showed that intense behavioural bonding occurs between pairs of adult males and females; about two-thirds of males paired
with one female, the remainder paired with two females simultaneously. Single-locus microsatellite profiling determined the
paternity of 63 offspring from 21 females for which long-term behavioural data were available. One-third of the young were
fathered by males which were not paired socially with the mother. The mating system was heterogeneous: (1) all offspring of
11 females were fathered by the mother's partner, (2) all young of 5 females were fathered by extra-pair males, and (3) only
some of the young of 5 females were fathered by their regular consort. Analysis of individual longitudinal demographic records
showed that females whose young were always fathered by their consort had higher reproductive success than those whose young
were always fathered as a result of (EPCs). However, females with some offspring fathered by their regular consort and others
via EPCs had the highest probability of raising young to independence. These females were significantly more likely to have
an offspring fathered as a result of an EPC if their previous young had failed to survive to pouch emergence. These results
are consistent with the hypothesis that females choose mates for their genetic quality. Comparison of the males with which
these females sought EPCs and the regular consorts suggested that arm length rather than body weight or testes size was used
as the index of genetic quality. Results from a second colony of rock-wallabies in which the reproductive rate was accelerated
were also consistent with the genetic-quality hypothesis. These results imply that by choosing better-quality fathers irrespective
of social pairing, females are able to maximise their overall lifetime reproductive success, and presumably, those of their
offspring.
Received: 8 June 1997 / Accepted after revision: 28 February 1998 相似文献