Extra-pair paternity in a Neotropical rainforest songbird, the White-necked Thrush Turdus albicollis (Aves: Turdidae)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Over the last two decades, several studies have shown that the mating systems of various birds are more complex than previously believed, and paternity tests performed with molecular techniques have proved, for instance, that the commonly observed social monogamy often presents important variations, such as extra-pair paternity. However, data are still largely biased towards temperate species. In our study, at an area of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, we found broods containing at least one extra-pair young (EPY) in the socially monogamous White-necked Thrush Turdus albicollis (Vieillot, 1818). Paternity tests using six heterologous microsatellite loci revealed that four of 11 broods (36.4%) presented at least one extra-pair young (EPY). This rate of EPY is within the range found for other studies in the tropics. This is one of the few studies that present detailed paternity analyses of a Neotropical rainforest passerine. Our findings corroborate the early insights that breeding strategies involving cheating can also be widespread among Neotropical socially monogamous songbirds.

Extra-pair paternity and sperm length variation in the socially monogamous Fieldfare Turdus pilaris

“…The frequency of EPO in the Fieldfare (27.6%, this study) is in the upper level of the interquartile range (spanning 6.1%−30.6%) among these species. Compared with four congeneric species for which the frequency of EPO ranged from 26.7% in the Common Blackbird T. merula (Hesler 2009), 31.8% in the White-necked Thrush T. albicollis (Biagolini-Jr. et al 2016), 37.8% in the Clay-colored Thrush T. grayi (Stutchbury et al 1998) to 45.9% in the American Robin T. migratorius (Rowe and Weatherhead 2007), the frequency of EPO in the Fieldfare was below the average level (i.e. 35.6%).…”

Hybridization between two recently diverged Neotropical passerines: The Pearly-bellied Seedeater Sporophila pileata, and the Copper Seedeater S. bouvreuil (Aves, Passeriformes, Thraupidae)

“…We considered Extra-Pair Paternity (EPP) when at least one young in a brood was not sired by at least one of its social parents [43], and we identified EPP by direct observation of allele inheritance [44,45], and by estimating the maximum likelihood values of relatedness (r) provided by ML-Relate [46]. With the direct observation method, EPP resulted when allelic mismatching occurred in at least two loci, as mismatching at only one locus can be potentially caused by mutations or null alleles [47,48].…”