Do female great reed warblers seek extra-pair fertilizations to avoid inbreeding?
Author
Summary, in English
Females of many species mate with several males. According to a recent hypothesis, female promiscuity serves to avoid inbreeding. We tested this hypothesis in a polygynous bird, the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), in which extra-pair fertilization, inbreeding and inbreeding depression occur. However, the extra-pair males and social males did not differ in relatedness to the promiscuous females, nor did the least related males sire most of the females' chicks. Thus, contrary to recent findings in some insects, birds and reptiles, we found no evidence for inbreeding avoidance among the promiscuous females. Instead, female great reed warblers may seek other potential benefits when cuckolding, such as good gene effects at particular functional genes.
Department/s
Publishing year
2004
Language
English
Pages
290-292
Publication/Series
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
Volume
271
Issue
Suppl. 5
Full text
- Available as PDF - 83 kB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Royal Society Publishing
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Status
Published
Project
- Long-term study of great reed warblers
Research group
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1471-2954