Parental investment, mate choice, and mate quality.

Burley, Nancy

doi:10.1073/pnas.74.8.3476

Cited by 152 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…Interestingly, in females, ROS levels during courtship were also higher as laying approached and brighter gular coloration was associated with higher levels of LP. In the brown booby, mutual mate choice and assortative mating is expected because of the long period of biparental care (Burley, 1977;Amundsen, 2000;Johnstone et al, 1996;Kokko and Johnstone, 2002). Accordingly, we recently found assortative mating by color in the brown booby (B.M., R.T., unpublished data).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Oxidative stress during courtship affects male and female reproductive effort differentially in a wild bird with biparental care

Montoya

Valverde

Rojas

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Oxidative stress has been suggested as one of the physiological mechanisms modulating reproductive effort, including investment in mate choice. Here, we evaluated whether oxidative stress influences breeding decisions by acting as a cost of or constraint on reproduction in the brown booby (Sula leucogaster), a long-lived seabird with prolonged biparental care. We found that during courtship, levels of lipid peroxidation (LP) of males and females were positively associated with gular skin color, a trait presumably used in mate choice, while levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were higher as laying approached and in early breeding pairs. Evidence of a constraining effect of oxidative stress for females was suggested by the fact that females with higher ROS during courtship laid smaller first eggs and had chicks with lower rates of body mass gain, and higher female LP was associated with lower offspring attendance time. No evidence of an oxidative cost of parental effort was found; from courtship to parental care, levels of ROS in males and females decreased, and changes in LP levels were non-significant. Finally, using a cross-fostering experiment we found that offspring ROS was unrelated to rearing and genetic parents' ROS. Interestingly, offspring LP was positively associated with the LP during courtship of both the rearing parents and the genetic father, suggesting that offspring LP might have both a genetic and an environmental component. Hence, in the brown booby, oxidative stress may be a cost of investment in reproductive traits before egg laying and constrain females' investment in eggs and parental care.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Oxidative stress during courtship affects male and female reproductive effort differentially in a wild bird with biparental care

Montoya

Valverde

Rojas

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…The 2D : 4D ratio varied with female mate preference as predicted based on egg androgen levels, suggesting that early exposure to steroids irreversibly affects brain organization in ways that influence subsequent preferences (Adkins Regan 1998). An alternative hypothesis is that mating decisions of adult females vary dynamically with their own mating quality (Burley 1977); if this is true, we expect that male zebra finches will be found to be most attracted to females with high digit ratios, and that females with such ratios will have superior fecundity. These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive, as social experience may mediate early organizational effects in adult organisms (Breedlove et al 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digit ratio varies with sex, egg order and strength of mate preference in zebra finches

Burley

Foster

2004

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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The steroid environment encountered by developing vertebrates has important organizational effects on physiology and behaviour that persist throughout an organism's lifetime. Optimal allocation of maternal steroids to zygotes may be difficult to achieve because of the sexually antagonistic effects of steroids; thus, for example, a hormone environment beneficial to a developing male may be much less beneficial to a developing female. Research into the important topic of how mothers might adaptively adjust steroid titres experienced by particular young has been constrained by the difficulty of measuring the steroid environment experienced by the embryo at critical times in development. A potential approach to this problem has been suggested by research on variation in digit ratios in humans, where the ratio of the length of the second and fourth digits reflects the steroid environment experienced by the foetus; notably, digit 4 lengthens in response to androgens. In light of the conservative nature of homeobox genes regulating early development in tetrapods, we questioned whether a sex difference in digit ratio exists in a passerine bird, the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata castanotis, and whether observed variation in the ratio is consistent with the previously reported pattern that androgen allocation to zebra finch egg yolk declines across laying order. We established an aviary population of outbred, wild-type zebra finches, and allowed them to breed freely. Hatchlings were marked to correspond to their egg order, and their digit ratios were measured after birds reached adulthood. We found that digit ratio increased across egg order, which is consistent with a pattern of decreasing androgen allocation. Moreover, digit ratios differed between the sexes. We also investigated whether variation in digit ratio among adult females predicted variation in their performance in mate-choice tests. Digit ratio accounted for almost 50% of the variance in strength of female preference for an attractive male trait: specifically, females with higher (presumably less 'androgenized') ratios had stronger preferences for attractive males. Digit ratio may prove to be an extremely useful tool for addressing a wide range of questions about vertebrate differentiation and behaviour.

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“…There is mounting evidence that males preferentially invest in certain females, 'overtly' through mating preferences (e.g. Trivers 1972;Burley 1977;Parker 1983;Jones & Hunter 1993;Owens & Thompson 1994;Johnstone et al 1996;Amundsen & Forsgren 2001;Bonduriansky 2001;Kokko & Monaghan 2001;Byrne & Rice 2006;Chenoweth et al 2006Chenoweth et al , 2007 and 'cryptically' through preferential ejaculate expenditure (Bonduriansky 2001;Reinhold et al 2002;Wedell et al 2002;Pizzari et al 2003;Cornwallis & Birkhead 2006;Rubolini et al 2006), particularly in species where sperm competition favours strategic sperm allocation ( Wedell et al 2002). It is well established that the relative number of sperm inseminated by competing males into a female is a reliable predictor of fertilization success in several species (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cryptic preference for MHC-dissimilar females in male red junglefowl,Gallus gallus

et al. 2008

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An increasing number of studies test the idea that females increase offspring fitness by biasing fertilization in favour of genetically compatible partners; however, few have investigated or controlled for corresponding preferences in males. Here, we experimentally test whether male red junglefowl, Gallus gallus, prefer genetically compatible females, measured by similarity at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a key gene complex in vertebrate immune function. Theory predicts that because some degree of MHC heterozygosity favours viability, individuals should prefer partners that carry MHC alleles different from their own. While male fowl showed no preference when simultaneously presented with an MHC-similar and an MHC-dissimilar female, they showed a 'cryptic' preference, by allocating more sperm to the most MHC-dissimilar of two sequentially presented females. These results provide the first experimental evidence that males might respond to the MHC similarity of a female through differential ejaculate expenditure. By revealing that cryptic male behaviours may bias fertilization success in favour of genetically compatible partners, this study demonstrates the need to experimentally disentangle male and female effects when studying preferences for genetically compatible partners.

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Parental investment, mate choice, and mate quality.

Cited by 152 publications

References 7 publications

Oxidative stress during courtship affects male and female reproductive effort differentially in a wild bird with biparental care

Oxidative stress during courtship affects male and female reproductive effort differentially in a wild bird with biparental care

Digit ratio varies with sex, egg order and strength of mate preference in zebra finches

Cryptic preference for MHC-dissimilar females in male red junglefowl,Gallus gallus

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