Female ornamentation, parental quality, and competitive ability in the rock sparrow

Griggio, Matteo; Zanollo, Valeria; Hoi, Herbert

doi:10.1007/s10164-010-0205-5

Cited by 40 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…The good-parent hypothesis, for example, was originally proposed as a mechanism for honest signalling in males [135]. Although there is some evidence that females choose males on the basis of their quality as parents [136], and that paternal quality may be reflected in male ornaments [137,138], there is little support for the idea that the same process operates in reverse, selecting for ornaments in females [119,139]. Some correlational studies suggest that mutual choice of mates that are good parents may be mediated by ornaments in socially monogamous species [140] but this needs experimental corroboration.…”

Section: Review Of Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, plumage ornaments in the Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) function in mutual sexual selection [120], but also mediate social dominance and competition over food between females outside the breeding season [117]. Similarly, plumage ornaments in female rock sparrows (Petronia petronia) function in mate attraction [121,122] but also mediate intra-sexual competition for food during the non-breeding season [119]. In these cases, traits originally thought to evolve by mutual sexual selection are potentially influenced by other social mechanisms.…”

Section: Review Of Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The evolution of female ornaments and weaponry: social selection, sexual selection and ecological competition

Tobias

Montgomerie

Lyon

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

399

490

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Ornaments, weapons and aggressive behaviours may evolve in female animals by mate choice and intrasexual competition for mating opportunities—the standard forms of sexual selection in males. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that selection tends to operate in different ways in males and females, with female traits more often mediating competition for ecological resources, rather than mate acquisition. Two main solutions have been proposed to accommodate this disparity. One is to expand the concept of sexual selection to include all mechanisms related to fecundity; another is to adopt an alternative conceptual framework—the theory of social selection—in which sexual selection is one component of a more general form of selection resulting from all social interactions. In this study, we summarize the history of the debate about female ornaments and weapons, and discuss potential resolutions. We review the components of fitness driving ornamentation in a wide range of systems, and show that selection often falls outside the limits of traditional sexual selection theory, particularly in females. We conclude that the evolution of these traits in both sexes is best understood within the unifying framework of social selection.

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Section: Review Of Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Review Of Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of female ornaments and weaponry: social selection, sexual selection and ecological competition

Tobias

Montgomerie

Lyon

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

399

490

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“…First, experimenters manipulated the benefits of matings-for in- T. Szé kely stance, making males (or females) more attractive to the opposite sex (Smith 1995;Griggio et al 2010). For example, by setting up an additional nest box close to a pair of common starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), male starlings reduced their involvement in care and sang to attract a new mate (Smith 1995).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Conflict between Parents: Offspring Desertion and Asymmetrical Parental Care

Székely

2014

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

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Parental care is an immensely variable social behavior, and sexual conflict offers a powerful paradigm to understand this diversity. Conflict over care (usually considered as a type of postzygotic sexual conflict) is common, because the evolutionary interests of male and female parents are rarely identical. I investigate how sexual conflict over care may facilitate the emergence and maintenance of diverse parenting strategies and argue that researchers should combine two fundamental concepts in social behavior to understand care patterns: cooperation and conflict. Behavioral evidence of conflict over care is well established, studies have estimated specific fitness implications of conflict for males or females, and experiments have investigated specific components of conflict. However, studies are long overdue to reveal the full implications of conflict for both males and females. Manipulating (or harming) the opposite sex seems less common in postzygotic conflicts than in prezygotic conflicts because by manipulating, coercing, or harming the opposite sex, the reproductive interest of the actor is also reduced. Parental care is a complex trait, although few studies have yet considered the implications of multidimensionality for parental conflict. Future research in parental conflict will benefit from understanding the behavioral interactions between male and female parents (e.g., negotiation, learning, and coercion), the genetic and neurogenomic bases of parental behavior, and the influence of social environment on parental strategies. Empirical studies are needed to put sexual conflict in a population context and reveal feedback between mate choice, pair bonds and parenting strategies, and their demographic consequences for the population such as mortalities and sex ratios. Taken together, sexual conflict offers a fascinating avenue for understanding the causes and consequences of parenting behavior, sex roles, and breeding system evolution.

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“…Although studies have demonstrated that such traits function as signals of quality that are preferred by males (Griggio et al, 2005;Torres and Velando, 2005) and are important in agonistic interactions (Griggio et al, 2010;Midamegbe et al, 2011;Morales et al, 2014), Ornamental traits of females that are preferred by males may influence their investment in reproduction (Edward, 2015). For instance, variation in the attractiveness of ornamentation displayed by females may influence how much parental care males invest in the current reproductive attempt (Burley, 1986;Sheldon, 2000).…”

Section: Chapter 7: Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ornamental traits of females that evolve by competition with conspecifics may also function secondarily in attracting mates (LeBas, 2006). Such traits are known to have dual utility (see review in Berglund et al, 1996), and traits that function in both contexts have been demonstrated in female birds (e.g., Griggio et al, 2010). Although ornamental traits of females have been shown to function during competitive interactions and /or mate attraction, less is known about how such traits influence the social and extra-pair mating success of free-living female animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of making success in female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor)

Berzins¹

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Females from a wide variety of taxa display elaborate ornaments and aggressive behaviours that are similar to those expressed by males. Although recent empirical investigation has demonstrated that ornamental traits and behaviours of females may function by attracting mates or signalling competitive ability when competing against conspecifics for access to mates and resources, less is known about how such traits influence the mating success of free-living female birds. For my research, I experimentally examined how variation in plumage brightness and behaviour of female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) influenced their mating success.Plumage brightness of females had no influence on investment in parental care or mating strategies of males, or the quality of social mate paired to the female. These results suggest that bright plumage is not a signal of attractiveness preferred by male tree swallows.In contrast, I report evidence that plumage brightness of female tree swallows is involved in agonistic interactions with conspecifics. Females whose plumage brightness was enhanced to signal high quality were less able to retain their nest site than females whose plumage brightness was reduced to signal low quality. This suggests that females displaying bright plumage may be challenged by conspecifics of high quality to test the quality signalled by bright plumage, and is supported by the finding that females displaying enhanced plumage brightness suffered social costs, such as delaying breeding and producing low-quality nestlings. Despite these costs, females in the enhanced plumage brightness treatment mated with extra-pair males that were higher quality than their social mate.Behaviour of females, manipulated by elevating testosterone (T), lowered the proportion of extra-pair offspring in the broods of T-treated females. Females manipulated so that the androgenic and estrogenic actions of T were blocked also produced fewer extra-pair iii offspring, and suggest that the androgenic and/or estrogenic actions of T influence extra-pair copulation behavior of female tree swallows. In conclusion, my results show that plumage brightness and behaviour of female tree swallows influence their mating success, and highlight the importance of studies experimentally manipulating ornamental and behavioural traits of free-living female birds prior to breeding.iv

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Female ornamentation, parental quality, and competitive ability in the rock sparrow

Abstract: The evolution of female ornaments is poorly understood. Recent evidence suggests not only

Cited by 40 publications

References 75 publications

The evolution of female ornaments and weaponry: social selection, sexual selection and ecological competition

The evolution of female ornaments and weaponry: social selection, sexual selection and ecological competition

Sexual Conflict between Parents: Offspring Desertion and Asymmetrical Parental Care

Determinants of making success in female Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor)

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