Small and variable sperm sizes suggest low sperm competition despite multiple paternity in a lekking suboscine bird

Sardell, Rebecca J.

doi:10.1642/auk-14-38.1

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Multiple paternity may result when females’ preferred mates are unable to successfully fertilize their full clutch, and females mate with additional males to ensure fertilization. We predicted that multiple paternity should be more common in nests with very old sires, as sperm count is lower in very old alphas (Sardell & DuVal, ) and, across taxa, male sperm quality decreases with age due to the accumulation of deleterious mutations (Crow, ). To simultaneously test this prediction, along with the prediction that male experience should affect the likelihood of a male sharing within‐nest paternity, we included male age in the binomial GLMM described in Section 2.5.1.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple paternity in a lek mating system: Females mate multiply when they choose inexperienced sires

Rivers

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Multiple mating by females is common and often driven by social constraints on female mate choice. However, females mate with multiple males even in systems without these social constraints and rates of multiple mating tend to be highly variable within and between populations. In lek mating systems, females are able to assess multiple males and their choice is unrestricted by pair bonds or the need for biparental care, yet some females mate with multiple males. To better understand the factors affecting variation in multiple mating, we investigated the occurrence of multiple paternity within clutches in a highly polygynous lek mating system. Using long‐term data on genetic paternity, survival, social status and individual age from a population of lance‐tailed manakins Chiroxiphia lanceolata, a species where males lek in cooperative alpha‐beta pairs, we tested five non‐exclusive hypotheses about the causes of variation in multiple mating and its benefits in females. We found that inexperienced males, including new alphas and rare beta sires, were disproportionately likely to share paternity when they sired any chicks. In contrast, female age (experience) was unrelated to multiple paternity. Multiple mating did not result in higher reproductive success or reduced variance in success for females, and there were neither consistently promiscuous females nor males that consistently shared paternity. The occurrence of multiple paternity in this lek mating system was best explained by female choice related to male characteristics that change with male experience. Our results support the hypothesis that there is a developmental component to the occurrence of multiple mating, and suggest females choose to mate multiply when their choices are not optimal.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple paternity in a lek mating system: Females mate multiply when they choose inexperienced sires

Rivers

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…These studies have been taxonomically restricted to passerine birds (Albrecht et al, 2012;Immler et al, 2008;Kleven et al, 2008;Lifjeld et al, 2010;Lüpold, Linz, Rivers, et al, 2009;Sardell & DuVal, 2014), with the exception of one study on shorebirds (Johnson & Briskie, 1999) and one on pheasants , though the latter found no effect of sperm competition on sperm morphology. Most studies focused on temperate zone species Immler et al, 2008;Kleven et al, 2008;Lifjeld et al, 2010; but see Albrecht et al, 2012;.…”

Section: ) Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the compelling evidence that sperm competition acts concurrently on sperm morphology in a directional and stabilizing manner, recent studies have used mean sperm length and the coefficients of variation of sperm length, both within and between males, as proxies of the intensity of sperm competition (Omotoriogun, Laskemoen, et al, ; Sardell & DuVal, ). These studies have been taxonomically restricted to passerine birds (Albrecht et al, ; Calhim et al, ; Immler et al, ; Kleven et al, ; Lifjeld et al, ; Lüpold Linz & Birkhead, ; Lüpold, Linz, Rivers, et al, ; Omotoriogun, Albrecht, et al, ; Omotoriogun, Laskemoen, et al, ; Sardell & DuVal, ), with the exception of one study on shorebirds (Johnson & Briskie, ) and one on pheasants (Immler et al, ), though the latter found no effect of sperm competition on sperm morphology. Most studies focused on temperate zone species (Calhim et al, ; Immler et al, ; Kleven et al, ; Lifjeld et al, ; but see Albrecht et al, ; Omotoriogun, Albrecht, et al, ; Omotoriogun, Laskemoen, et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sperm morphology and evidence for sperm competition among parrots

Carballo

Battistotti

Teltscher

et al. 2019

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Sperm competition is an important component of post‐copulatory sexual selection that has shaped the evolution of sperm morphology. Previous studies have reported that sperm competition has a concurrently directional and stabilizing effect on sperm size. For example, bird species that show higher levels of extrapair paternity and larger testes (proxies for the intensity of sperm competition) have longer sperm and lower coefficients of variation in sperm length, both within and between males. For this reason, these sperm traits have been proposed as indexes to estimate the level of sperm competition in species for which other measures are not available. The relationship between sperm competition and sperm morphology has been explored mostly for bird species that breed in temperate zones, with the main focus on passerine birds. We measured sperm morphology in 62 parrot species that breed mainly in the tropics and related variation in sperm length to life‐history traits potentially indicative of the level of sperm competition. We showed that sperm length negatively correlated with the within‐male coefficient of variation in sperm length and positively with testes mass. We also showed that sperm is longer in sexually dichromatic and in gregarious species. Our results support the general validity of the hypothesis that sperm competition drives variation in sperm morphology. Our analyses suggest that post‐copulatory sexual selection is also important in tropical species, with more intense sperm competition among sexually dichromatic species and among species that breed at higher densities.

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“…In socially monogamous species, extra-pair sires are typically older males (Cleasby & Nakagawa, 2012), and a study on house sparrows Passer domesticus suggests that this is due to post-copulatory mechanisms (Girndt, Chng, Burke, & Schroeder, 2018). However, Rivers and DuVal reject this hypothesis, because (a) only few females were observed copulating with multiple males (DuVal, Vanderbilt, & M'Gonigle, 2018) and (b) males have small and variable sperm, a small cloacal protuberance and small testes compared to other passerines, suggesting low levels of sperm competition (Sardell & DuVal, 2014). Moreover (c) the number of sperm per ejaculate did not differ between males of different status and sperm counts declined with age (Sardell & DuVal, 2014).…”

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Why do females of a lekking species mate with multiple males?

Kempenaers

2020

Journal of Animal Ecology

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In Focus: Rivers, P. R., & DuVal, E. H. (2020). Multiple paternity in a lek mating system: Females mate multiply when they choose inexperienced sires. Journal of Animal Ecology, 89, 1142–1152. In many socially monogamous species with biparental care, some females engage in extra‐pair copulations, despite the apparent risk of losing male help in raising their brood. Why females mate with multiple males remains the focus of intense debate, but may be linked to constraints in social mate choice. If so, multiple mating is not expected in a lekking mating system, where females receive no resources from the male other than sperm and are free to choose the ‘best’ mate to sire their offspring. Rivers and DuVal (2020) report on the occurrence of multiple paternity in lekking lance‐tailed manakins and test several hypotheses to explain it. Their study shows that lower‐ranked males and males with less experience were more likely to share paternity. However, the process underlying this pattern remains puzzling. The authors suggest female choice related to male characteristics that change with experience as an explanation, but alternative scenarios cannot be excluded.

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Small and variable sperm sizes suggest low sperm competition despite multiple paternity in a lekking suboscine bird

Cited by 10 publications

References 59 publications

Multiple paternity in a lek mating system: Females mate multiply when they choose inexperienced sires

Multiple paternity in a lek mating system: Females mate multiply when they choose inexperienced sires

Sperm morphology and evidence for sperm competition among parrots

Why do females of a lekking species mate with multiple males?

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