Male parental care, differential parental investment by females and sexual selection

Møller, Anders Pape; Thornhill, Randy

doi:10.1006/anbe.1998.0731

Cited by 187 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…This prediction is corroborated in birds, where differential allocation is predominantly found in species where females receive genetic benefits from mate choice (Møller & Thornhill 1998). It is likely that female Pieris napi also gain genetic benefits by producing more eggs after mating with high-donating males, as spermatophore size is heritable in this species (N. Wedell, unpublished data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Second, female variation in reproductive investment has obvious impacts on models of sexual selection (Wolf et al 1997;Qvarnström & Price 2001): it has been argued that differential allocation in relation to male attractiveness will reinforce the response to sexual selection (Sheldon 2000;Qvarnströ m & Price 2001). Finally, differential allocation can directly affect the expression of condition-dependent traits and also has ramifications for estimating the heritability of traits (Møller & Thornhill 1998;Mousseau & Fox 1998). Without considering the presence of maternal or paternal effects, simple models of heritabilities may lead to an under-or over-estimation of the potential for traits to evolve (McAdam et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paternal investment directly affects female reproductive effort in an insect

Wedell

Karlsson

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Female reproductive effort can be influenced by the quality of her mate. In some species, females increase their reproductive effort by differentially allocating resources after mating with high-quality males. Examination of female reproductive effort in relation to male quality has implications for estimating the evolvability of traits and for sexual-selection models. Accurate quantification of reproductive investment is not possible in many species. Butterflies are an exception, as most nectar-feeding species emerge with almost intact reproductive resources, and in some species males provide nutrients at mating that enhance female fecundity. By manipulating male donations and using radioactive isotopes, we quantified the effect of variation in nutrient provisioning on female reproductive effort in two butterfly species. In the greenveined white butterfly, Pieris napi, females increased their reproductive effort after receiving large male donations. By contrast, in the speckled wood, Pararge aegeria, where males do not provide nutrients, female reproductive effort was independent of male ejaculate. Increased reproductive effort in Pieris napi resulted from the production of more eggs, rather than from investing more resources per egg. In this species donating ability is heritable; hence females laying more eggs after mating with high-donating males benefit both through higher fecundity and through the production of high-donating sons.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal investment directly affects female reproductive effort in an insect

Wedell

Karlsson

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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“…I gathered studies of female choice at pair formation, at (extra-pair) copulation, and differential allocation (i.e., increased maternal investment when paired with attractive males; Burley 1986Burley , 1988Møller and Thornhill 1998), which can be regarded as a form of mate choice (Sheldon 2000;Brooks and Griffith 2010). I start this review by describing courtship behavior of male barn swallows, which provides insights into the function of each male trait.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beauty alone is insufficient: female mate choice in the barn swallow

Hasegawa

2017

Ecological Research

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The barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, is a model species for studying sexual selection, particularly female mate choice. Although there have already been several reviews of female mate choice and its geographic variation in this species, all of them have focused on secondary sexual characteristics. Here, for better understanding of the general pattern of female mate choice and their influence on male phenotype, I review all of the female mate choice criteria ever reported in the barn swallow, emphasizing the importance of relatively inconspicuous male traits. These include resources defended or provided by males, such as territory and paternal investment. In addition, females prefer a nestling-like vocalization, enticement call, which is particularly noteworthy because females prefer immature calls. This pattern contrasts with female choice based on secondary sexual characteristics, in which more mature, elaborate male traits are almost always favored. Nestling-like male traits are widespread, and thus female avoidance of, rather than preference for, mature forms might be common. In addition to selection on the target trait itself, these resources and nestling-like male traits would also matter in understanding the evolution of the overall male phenotype and its geographic variation, due to the interrelationships among male target traits and those among female mate preferences. Female preferences for inconspicuous traits are highly dependent on ecological factors such as nest predation pressure, and thus overall male phenotype including secondary sexual characteristics might be more predictable than previously thought. Future studies should focus on not only conspicuous secondary sexual characteristics but inconspicuous male traits.

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“…The good-genes hypothesis is widely recognized and supported by sources of data (Møller & Alatalo 1999), such as the proven heritability of several sexually selected plumage traits (Møller 1991;Slagsvold & Lifjeld 1992;Norris 1993;Alatalo et al 1994;Sheldon et al 1997;Roulin et al 1998) and the fact that females adjust the primary sex ratio of their offspring according to the plumage ornamentation of their mate (Sheldon et al 1999). The good-parent hypothesis, however, although widely accepted on theoretical grounds (Hoelzer 1989;Price et al 1993;Møller & Thornhill 1998), has not been fully supported by empirical data. Typically, although an association has been found in several species between male plumage brightness and parental investment (Hoelzer 1989;Grafen 1990;Kirkpatrick & Ryan 1991;Price et al 1993;Møller & Thornhill 1998), this is either based on feeding rates, which do not take into account the quality of prey items (Royama 1966;Saetre et al 1995), or has failed to differentiate the environmental and genetic correlation between offspring and their parents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brighter yellow blue tits make better parents

Senar

Figuerola

Pascual

2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

120

112

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Whether or not bird ornaments are a signal for direct (e.g. good parents) or indirect (e.g. good genes) benefits to prospective partners in sexual selection is controversial. Carotene coloration in Parus species is directly related to the ingestion of caterpillars, so that a brightly carotene-coloured tit may be signalling its ability to find caterpillars, a main high-quality food source for good fledgling development, and hence its parental abilities. If carotene-based plumage coloration is related to the good-parent hypothesis, we predict that yellow plumage brightness of tit fathers should be positively correlated to their investment in offspring provisioning. Here, we use cross-fostering experiments in blue tits (Parus caeruleus) to show that chick development (as measured by tarsus length) is related to yellowness of the foster father, but not to that of the genetic parents. Using these data, we were able to measure, for the first time to our knowledge, the separate contribution of genetic and environmental factors (i.e. parental plumage coloration) to chick development, and hence parental investment. Our data, which relate carotenoid coloration to models of good parents, and data from other authors, which relate ultraviolet coloration to good-genes models, stress that different kinds of coloration within an individual may provide different units of information to prospective females.

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Male parental care, differential parental investment by females and sexual selection

Cited by 187 publications

References 54 publications

Paternal investment directly affects female reproductive effort in an insect

Paternal investment directly affects female reproductive effort in an insect

Beauty alone is insufficient: female mate choice in the barn swallow

Brighter yellow blue tits make better parents

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