Experimental evidence for a phenotypic trait as an age-dependent intrasexual social signal between familiar individuals

Cline, Mason H.; Hatt, Joanna L.; Conroy, Michael J.; Cooper, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.11.004

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Semen samples were mixed with approximately 20 μL phosphate-buffered saline, and we transferred the sample into 5% formaldehyde immediately. We measured (1) the size of the white wing patch using digital calipers to the nearest 0.1 mm, placed around the longest extent of white visible while the wing was closed ( n = 12; [ 15 ]), (2) the percentage of black feathers in the male’s backs, which was estimated while the bander held the bird in a modified bander’s grip to expose the back ( n = 11 males [ 27 ]); (3) and the length and diameter of the cloacal protuberance ( n = 10 males). Cloacal protuberance volume was calculated as length times radius squared times pi.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This research was conducted with approval from the National Zoological Park Animal Care and Use Committee (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). The federal banding permit numbers is 23885.…”

Section: Ethics Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Males and females differ substantially in plumage, with females being drab olive colored and males having a blue back, black face and flanks, and white underside [14]. Both sexes have a white wing patch; it is larger in males [14] and affects male-male interactions, particularly for young males [15]. Being sexually dimorphic, dorsal coloration and wing patch size may be hypothesized to affect extra-pair copulations, although one study found no relationship between wing patch and parentage [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sperm Morphology and Male Age in Black-Throated Blue Warblers, an Ecological Model System

Cramer

Krauss

Rowlison

et al. 2020

Animals

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Extra-pair paternity may drive selection on spermatozoa and ejaculate characteristics through sperm competition and cryptic female choice. Here, we examine sperm morphology in the black-throated blue warbler (Setophaga caerulescens), an ecological model species where extra-pair paternity is frequent and is linked with male age. We test whether sperm morphology relates to several aspects of male phenotype known or suspected to affect extra-pair paternity success. Sperm morphology did not correlate with the size of the white wing spot, a social status signal, nor with the volume of the cloacal protuberance. However, older males tended to have longer sperm cells. Although the sample size was limited, this pattern is intriguing, as longer cells may be advantageous in post-copulatory sexual selection and older males have larger testes and higher extra-pair paternity success in this species. Changes in sperm morphology with age are not observed in other birds, though they have been observed in insects and fishes. More research on sperm morphology is needed to clarify its role in extra-pair fertilizations in this well-studied species.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This research was conducted with approval from the National Zoological Park Animal Care and Use Committee (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). The federal banding permit numbers is 23885.…”

Section: Ethics Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sperm Morphology and Male Age in Black-Throated Blue Warblers, an Ecological Model System

Cramer

Krauss

Rowlison

et al. 2020

Animals

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“…Moreover, a positive covariance between extrapair and within-pair paternity indicated that males that gain extrapair paternity were also less likely to be cuckolded (Webster et al 2001), further increasing the variance in mating success and hence the opportunity for sexual selection (Møller and Birkhead 1994;Webster et al 1995;Møller and Ninni 1998;Reid et al 2014). Despite the opportunity for sexual selection and striking sexual dichromatism (Holmes et al 2005;Cline et al 2016), male sexual traits do not appear to be associated with extrapair or within-pair mating success in our study population (Webster et al 2001;M. S. Webster, unpublished data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological and Social Factors Constrain Spatial and Temporal Opportunities for Mating in a Migratory Songbird

Kaiser

Risk

Sillett

et al. 2017

The American Naturalist

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Many studies of sexual selection assume that individuals have equal mating opportunities and that differences in mating success result from variation in sexual traits. However, the inability of sexual traits to explain variation in male mating success suggests that other factors moderate the strength of sexual selection. Extrapair paternity is common in vertebrates and can contribute to variation in mating success and thus serves as a model for understanding the operation of sexual selection. We developed a spatially explicit, multifactor model of all possible female-male pairings to test the hypothesis that ecological (food availability) and social (breeding density, breeding distance, and the social mate's nest stage) factors influence an individual's opportunity for extrapair paternity in a socially monogamous bird, the black-throated blue warbler, Setophaga caerulescens. A male's probability of siring extrapair young decreased with increasing distance to females, breeding density, and food availability. Males on food-poor territories were more likely to sire extrapair young, and these offspring were produced farther from the male's territory relative to males on food-abundant territories. Moreover, males sired extrapair young mostly during their social mates' incubation stage, especially males on food-abundant territories. This study demonstrates how ecological and social conditions constrain the spatial and temporal opportunities for extrapair paternity that affect variation in mating success and the strength of sexual selection in socially monogamous species.

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“…Indeed, the condition or quality of the UV-blocked adult had not changed after manipulation but only the signal expression. The manipulated adult is only supposed to change its behaviour if it selfperceives the manipulated signal directly or if it adjusts its behaviour because its responds indirectly to the changes in its partner's behaviour (Burley 1986;1988;Sanz 2001;Cline et al 2016), for which we did not have evidence. The latter is in contrast to a recent hypothesis that partners co-adjust their investment based on behavioural traits -by checking each other during feeding visits, which should result in an alternated sequence of feeding visits (Hinde et al 2005;Johnstone et al 2014, Iserbyt et al 2019Griffioen et al 2019).…”

Section: Parental Behaviour: Feeding Bouts and Prey Sizementioning

confidence: 90%

Experimental evidence that UV/yellow colouration functions as a signal of parental quality in the blue tit

García‐Campa

Müller

Morales

2020

Preprint

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In bi-parental species, reproduction is not only a crucial life-history stage where individuals must take fitness-relevant decisions, but these decisions also need to be adjusted to the behavioural strategies of a partner. Hence, communication is required, which could be facilitated by condition-dependent signals of parental quality. Yet, these traits have (co-)evolved in multiple contexts within the family, as during reproduction different family members may coincide and interact at the site of breeding. In this study we explore whether a condition-dependent trait acts a quality signal and regulates intra-family interactions in a bird species, the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). As a family is a complex network where signals could be perceived by multiple receivers, we expected that experimentally blocking the reflectance of an adult's UV/yellow colouration of breast feathers may affect the behavioural strategies of all family members. We found an increase of parental investment in nests with an UV-blocked adult, as the partner compensated for the perceived lower rearing capacity. As the UV-blocked adult did not change its provisioning behaviour, as was to be expected, their partner must have responded to the (manipulated) signal but not to a behavioural change. However, offspring did not co-adjust their begging intensity to a signal of parental quality. Opposite to adults, we propose that offspring respond to the behaviour but not to the parental signal. Overall, our results show experimentally at the first time that UV/yellow colouration of blue tits acts as a quality signal revealing the rearing capacity to mates.

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Experimental evidence for a phenotypic trait as an age-dependent intrasexual social signal between familiar individuals

Cited by 8 publications

References 57 publications

Sperm Morphology and Male Age in Black-Throated Blue Warblers, an Ecological Model System

Sperm Morphology and Male Age in Black-Throated Blue Warblers, an Ecological Model System

Ecological and Social Factors Constrain Spatial and Temporal Opportunities for Mating in a Migratory Songbird

Experimental evidence that UV/yellow colouration functions as a signal of parental quality in the blue tit

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