Article
Behavioral Sciences
Silje L. Rekdal, Jarl Andreas Anmarkrud, Jan T. Lifjeld, Arild Johnsen
Summary: This study shows that female bluethroats tend to choose a social mate that is MHCII-compatible in order to prevent other males from gaining paternity in their brood. However, this preference occurs only when the social male is young, as older males can override female preferences through higher sperm production. Additionally, offspring with MHC diversity close to the golden mean exhibit higher immune responsiveness.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Joseph F. Welklin, Carrie L. Branch, Angela M. Pitera, Benjamin R. Sonnenberg, Lauren M. Benedict, Virginia K. Heinen, Dovid Y. Kozlovsky, Vladimir V. Pravosudov
Summary: Mate choice plays an essential role in evolutionary processes such as sexual dimorphism. While social mate choice is less studied than reproductive mate choice, it can have significant implications for the survival and success of offspring in species with biparental care. In this study, we found that sexually size-dimorphic mountain chickadees exhibit multiple self-referential pairing patterns when choosing social mates. Females preferentially paired with males slightly larger than themselves, suggesting that size-based assortative mating is common in nonhuman animal systems.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Cristina-Maria Valcu, Mihai Valcu, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: This study explored the geographical variation in the frequency of extra-pair paternity (EPP) among bird populations and species. The results showed that EPP frequency decreases with latitude, increases with distance from the breeding range boundary, is negatively associated with generation length and pair-bond duration among species, and decreases with latitude at the assemblage level. The latitudinal decline of EPP is consistent across zoogeographical realms.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Javier Sierro, Selvino R. de Kort, Ian R. Hartley
Summary: In birds, song performance plays a crucial role in contests for resources. This study found that song performance declines after sustained singing, supporting the hypothesis that sustained performance is limited. Additionally, the experiment demonstrated that long trills with high performance elicited a stronger response, highlighting the trade-off between duration and performance quality in communication across taxa.
Article
Ornithology
Mateusz Ledwon, Patricia Szczys
Summary: Patterns of extra pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism were studied in a Whiskered Tern population, with low rates observed due to the high male parental investment in the species. Intraspecific brood parasitism had a greater impact on chick proportions compared to extra pair paternity, the latter being relatively rare in this population.
JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Yating Liu, Zhengjun Wu, Wenbo Liao
Summary: This study examined the relationship between extra-pair paternity (EPP) and brain size, testis size, and life histories among bird species. The findings indicate that birds with larger brains, which are associated with enhanced cognitive abilities, are more inclined to maintain long-term stable relationships with their mates and engage in mutualism, rather than increasing the frequency of EPP.
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Robin E. Morrison, Eric Ndayishimiye, Tara S. Stoinski, Winnie Eckardt
Summary: Mating with close kin can have negative consequences, leading to the evolution of inbreeding avoidance mechanisms. This study on mountain gorillas examined multiple mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance, including dispersal, mate choice, kin discrimination, and post-copulatory biases. The findings suggest that partial dispersal reduces kinship in groups, and there is significant kin discrimination in mate choice, particularly towards maternal kin. However, there is limited avoidance of paternal kin, and no evidence for post-copulatory inbreeding avoidance. These results demonstrate that multiple complementary mechanisms for inbreeding avoidance can evolve within a single species, and mate choice may enable more flexible dispersal systems to evolve.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Paulo B. Chaves, Karen B. Strier, Anthony Di Fiore
Summary: Evidence suggests that females, both human and nonhuman primates, avoid breeding with close kin and may choose mates based on MHC diversity. In egalitarian societies like the northern muriquis, female mate choice is less constrained and sires with higher MHC diversity are preferred. However, there is no evidence of mating preference for males who are more distantly related or have more MHC alleles distinct from their own, suggesting that female mate choice may be limited by other factors impacting male fertilization success.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hajime Yaguchi, Itaru Kobayashi, Kiyoto Maekawa, Christine A. Nalepa
Summary: Subsocial Cryptocercus cockroaches, believed to be socially monogamous, were found to have common extra-pair paternity in field-collected families. The study revealed that approximately half of young females exhibit serial monogamy and produce offspring with the last mated male, while pair males extend parental care to unrelated nymphs. This suggests genetic monogamy may not be a strict prerequisite for the evolution of termite eusociality.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Simone Santoro, Pilar Fernandez-Diaz, David Canal, Carlos Camacho, Laszlo Z. Garamszegi, Jesus Martinez-Padilla, Jaime Potti
Summary: This study examines the relationship between social polygyny and changing environmental conditions in pied flycatchers. The results show that monogamous females have a higher survival rate than polygamous females, and that FSP is positively associated with annual reproductive success. Additionally, the survival rate of polygamous females is similar to that of monogamous females following years with high FSP.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Peter Santema, Bart Kempenaers
Summary: In blue tits, males primarily visit nest-boxes outside their territories during the early breeding period, suggesting a potential role in extra-pair mating.
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Emily Rebecca Alison Cramer
Summary: The study found that in socially monogamous species, tests related to sperm traits in extra-pair paternity situations can be highly biased, recommending the use of multivariate selection analysis and proportional regression to avoid biases.
Article
Ecology
Jan T. Lifjeld
Summary: The study investigated the effects of two sexual traits in male barn swallows on paternity change in two different populations. However, it found that the initial paternity score influenced the magnitude of the change, leading to biased conclusions.
Article
Ecology
Min Chen, Guopan Li, Jinlong Liu, Shaobin Li
Summary: The study suggests that pursuing extrapair copulations may be a natural instinct in birds, and the interaction between males and females for EPCs may lead to larger brains. However, larger brains may also restrict the EPC level for both sexes across bird species, as indicated by the negative association between relative brain size and EPP rates.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ornithology
Jamie Dunning, Terry Burke, Julia Schroeder
Summary: The question of why socially monogamous females engage in extra-pair behavior is explored in this study. The results suggest that females who divorce their social partner are more likely to produce extra-pair offspring, but it does not demonstrate that these females also have a higher proportion of extra-pair offspring. Additionally, the number of broods initiated by females is positively correlated with the number of extra-pair males that father their offspring.
JOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Melissah Rowe, Tomas Albrecht, Emily R. A. Cramer, Arild Johnsen, Terje Laskemoen, Jason T. Weir, Jan T. Lifjeld
Review
Behavioral Sciences
Louis Boumans, Arild Johnsen
JOURNAL OF ETHOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Melissa Lemoine, Kay Lucek, Charles Perrier, Verena Saladin, Frank Adriaensen, Emilio Barba, Eduardo J. Belda, Anne Charmantier, Mariusz Cichon, Tapio Eeva, Arnaud Gregoire, Camilla A. Hinde, Arild Johnsen, Jan Komdeur, Raivo Mand, Erik Matthysen, Ana Claudia Norte, Natalia Pitala, Ben C. Sheldon, Tore Slagsvold, Joost M. Tinbergen, Janos Torok, Richard Ubels, Kees Van Oers, Marcel E. Visser, Blandine Doligez, Heinz Richner
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2016)
Article
Ecology
Emily R. A. Cramer, Murielle Alund, S. Eryn McFarlane, Arild Johnsen, Anna Qvarnstrom
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Marko Mutanen, Sami M. Kivela, Rutger A. Vos, Camiel Doorenweerd, Sujeevan Ratnasingham, Axel Hausmann, Peter Huemer, Vlad Dinca, Erik J. van Nieukerken, Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde, Roger Vila, Leif Aarvik, Thibaud Decaens, Konstantin A. Efetov, Paul D. N. Hebert, Arild Johnsen, Ole Karsholt, Mikko Pentinsaari, Rodolphe Rougerie, Andreas Segerer, Gerhard Tarmann, Reza Zahiri, H. Charles J. Godfray
SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY
(2016)
Article
Ecology
Emily R. A. Cramer, Even Stensrud, Gunnhild Marthinsen, Silje Hogner, Lars Erik Johannessen, Terje Laskemoen, Marie-Christine Eybert, Tore Slagsvold, Jan T. Lifjeld, Arild Johnsen
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2016)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Arild Johnsenl, Anna M. Kearns, Kevin E. Omland, Jarl Andreas Anmarkrud
Article
Ecology
Louis Boumans, Silje Hogner, John Brittain, Arild Johnsen
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2017)
Article
Ecology
Hanna Nyborg Stostad, Arild Johnsen, Jan Terje Lifjeld, Melissah Rowe
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tereza Kralova, Tomas Albrecht, Josef Bryja, David Horak, Arild Johnsen, Jan T. Lifjeld, Marian Novotny, Ondrej Sedlacek, Hana Velova, Michal Vinkler
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Camilla Lo Cascio Saetre, Arild Johnsen, Even Stensrud, Emily R. A. Cramer
Article
Zoology
Trude Magnussen, Jostein Kjaerandsen, Arild Johnsen, Geir E. E. Soli
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anna M. Kearns, Marco Restani, Ildiko Szabo, Audun Schroder-Nielsen, Jin Ah Kim, Hayley M. Richardson, John M. Marzluff, Robert C. Fleischer, Arild Johnsen, Kevin E. Omland
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2018)
Article
Ecology
Silje L. Rekdal, Jarl Andreas Anmarkrud, Arild Johnsen, Jan T. Lifjeld
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2018)