Foreign egg retention by avian hosts in repeated brood parasitism: why do rejecters accept?

Moskát, Csaba; Hauber, Márk E.; Elek, Zoltán; Gommers, M.I.; Bán, Miklós; Groenewoud, Frank; Versluijs, Tom S L; Hoetz, Christiaan W A; Komdeur, Jan

doi:10.1007/s00265-013-1654-y

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Furthermore, egg discrimination can also be influenced by a variety of other effects including egg arrangement (Polaciková et al 2013;Hanley et al 2015), nesting stage (Moskát et al 2014b), and the flushing of host parents (Hanley et al 2015). Our study also has implications for understanding the difference in threshold of releasing behavior among different cognitive mechanisms, which has rarely been demonstrated before.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Multiple mechanisms of egg recognition in a cuckoo host

Wang

Yang

Møller

et al. 2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The cognitive mechanisms behind egg rejection behavior have received increasing attention in recent years helping to understand the evolution of anti-parasite behavior by hosts. Here, we tested egg discrimination mechanisms of yellow-bellied prinia (Prinia flaviventris) in relation to different stages of egg laying (pre-egg laying, one host egg, and multi-host egg stages) and different extent of foreign egg mimicry (poor and high mimicry). We found that the prinia showed variation in egg rejection not only toward foreign eggs differing in mimicry but also among different stages of egg laying and within the same stage of laying. Prinias rejected 100 % of poorly mimetic foreign eggs in the pre-egg-laying stage, and 78.9 and 100 % in the one-host-egg and multi-hostegg stages, respectively. In contrast, they only rejected 38 % of highly mimetic eggs during the pre-egg-laying stage and accepted all at other stages. Multiple mechanisms, including a memory-based template through inheritance or learning, onset of laying, and direct comparison, may have evolved in the yellow-bellied prinia. The mechanisms depend on the mimicry of foreign eggs and the egg-laying stages tested. Innate or longterm memory template from previous breeding attempts may also be used in egg discrimination by hosts while observational learning or experience enhancement is involved in template formation, in which the first laying eggs may play a key role. However, discrimination during the pre-egg-laying stage may be a response toward foreign objects rather than parasitic eggs in this host species. These findings highlight the complexity of the multiple cognitive mechanisms involved in anti-parasite behavior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Multiple mechanisms of egg recognition in a cuckoo host

Wang

Yang

Møller

et al. 2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…; Moskát et al. ). Recent studies have confirmed the most prevalent prediction for the evolution of parasitic egg colour and pattern mimicry, initially tested by human observers (Davies ), that less mimetic eggs, when seen by the avian eye, are rejected more often (Cassey et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

How to Spot a Stranger's Egg? A Mimicry‐Specific Discordancy Effect in the Recognition of Parasitic Eggs

et al. 2014

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Egg discrimination by hosts is an antiparasitic defence to reject foreign eggs from the nest. Even when mimetic, the presence of brood parasitic egg(s) typically alters the overall similarity of all eggs in a clutch, producing a discordant clutch compared to more homogenous clutches of composed only of hosts' own eggs. In multiple parasitism, the more foreign eggs are laid in the nest, the more heterogeneous the overall clutch appears. Perceptual filters and recognition templates cannot explain the known pattern of lower rejection rates of foreign eggs in multiple vs. single parasitism. We therefore assessed the role of clutch homogeneity and manipulated the colour of one or more eggs in the clutches of great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) hosts of common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus). Varying the colours of both the majority and the minority eggs caused predictable shifts in the rejection of the focal egg(s), and ejection rates of the minority egg colour consistently increased but only when it belonged to a more mimetic egg colour, relative to the less mimetic colour of majority eggs. The results imply that in addition to sensory filters, and template-based cognitive decision rules, discordancy-based rejection is affected by the overall clutch appearance and interacts with specific colours varying in the extent of mimicry, to contribute to the recognition decisions of hosts to reject parasitic eggs.

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“…Furthermore, eggshell coloration may result in crypsis or mimetism; cryptic eggs can remain undetected by predators, whereas brood parasites may mimic the coloration of host eggs (Kilner, 2006; Sullivan et al, 2003). Another important example is the nest parasite arms race model, where egg colour may help parents to identify their own eggs in species exposed to brood parasites (Feeney et al, 2016; Medina et al, 2016; Moskát et al, 2014). Additionally, a blue egg shell has been proposed to be a sexually selected signal of mating status that may induce a higher allocation of paternal care (Moreno & Osorno, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In cuckoos, egg shell colour is transmitted either cytoplasmatically (mitochondrion) or by the sex chromosome (W). This ensures that females resemble their hosts in egg colour (Feeney et al, 2016; Medina et al, 2016; Moskát et al, 2014). These studies have shown that the genetic mechanism underlying eggshell colour in birds is quite complex, and further insights regarding the molecular basis of avian eggshell colour need to be obtained to understand the evolution of avian eggshell colour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A single nucleotide polymorphism variant located in the cis‐regulatory region of the ABCG2 gene is associated with mallard egg colour

Liu

Guo

et al. 2021

Molecular Ecology

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Avian egg coloration is shaped by natural selection, but its genetic basis remains unclear. Here, we used genome‐wide association analysis and identity by descent to finely map green egg colour to a 179‐kb region of Chr4 based on the resequencing of 352 ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) from a segregating population resulting from the mating of Pekin ducks (white‐shelled eggs) and mallards (green‐shelled eggs). We further narrowed the candidate region to a 30‐kb interval by comparing genome divergence in seven indigenous duck populations. Among the genes located in the finely mapped region, only one transcript of the ABCG2 gene (XM_013093252.2) exhibited higher uterine expression in green‐shelled individuals than in white‐shelled individuals, as supported by transcriptome data from four populations. ABCG2 has been reported to encode a protein that functions as a membrane transporter for biliverdin. Sanger sequencing of the whole 30‐kb candidate region (Chr4: 47.41–47.44 Mb) and a plasmid reporter assay helped to identify a single nucleotide polymorphism (Chr4: 47,418,074 G>A) located in a conserved predicted promoter region whose variation may alter ABCG2 transcription activity. We provide a useful molecular marker for duck breeding and contribute data to the research on ecological evolution based on egg colour patterns among birds.

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Foreign egg retention by avian hosts in repeated brood parasitism: why do rejecters accept?

Abstract: Great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

Cited by 13 publications

References 73 publications

Multiple mechanisms of egg recognition in a cuckoo host

Multiple mechanisms of egg recognition in a cuckoo host

How to Spot a Stranger's Egg? A Mimicry‐Specific Discordancy Effect in the Recognition of Parasitic Eggs

A single nucleotide polymorphism variant located in the cis‐regulatory region of the ABCG2 gene is associated with mallard egg colour

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