Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers
Abstract Background Nest parasitism by cuckoos (Cuculus spp.) results in enormous reproductive failure and forces hosts to evolve antiparasitic strategies, i.e., recognition of own eggs and rejection of cuckoo eggs. There are often sexual conflicts between male and female individuals in the expressi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Avian Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-021-00283-4 |
| _version_ | 1828079814328713216 |
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| author | Laikun Ma Wei Liang |
| author_facet | Laikun Ma Wei Liang |
| author_sort | Laikun Ma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Nest parasitism by cuckoos (Cuculus spp.) results in enormous reproductive failure and forces hosts to evolve antiparasitic strategies, i.e., recognition of own eggs and rejection of cuckoo eggs. There are often sexual conflicts between male and female individuals in the expression of antiparasitic behavior due to the differences in reproductive inputs and division of labor. Methods By adding a foreign egg made of blue soft clay to the host nest during early incubation period in the field, and by removing several host eggs and adding experimental eggs to control the proportion of two egg types in the nest, we examined egg rejection ability, egg recognition mechanism and sexual difference in egg rejection of the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the major hosts of Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus). Results Our results indicated that Oriental Reed Warblers can recognize and reject nearly 100% (73/75) of the non-mimetic eggs made of blue soft clay, and they could reject foreign eggs with 100% accuracy, regardless of the ratio of experimental eggs and its own eggs in the nest. Furthermore, all cases of egg rejections recorded by videos were only carried out by females. Conclusions Oriental Reed Warblers have a high egg recognition ability and show a true recognition mechanism. Only female warblers perform egg rejection, suggesting that the sex for host egg incubation seems to play an important role in the evolution of egg recognition mechanisms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:08:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-408f7c4a54944f1ab7a77dea40006359 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2053-7166 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:08:10Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Avian Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-408f7c4a54944f1ab7a77dea400063592023-01-02T12:39:32ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Avian Research2053-71662021-09-011211710.1186/s40657-021-00283-4Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed WarblersLaikun Ma0Wei Liang1Department of Biology and Food Science, Hebei Normal University for NationalitiesMinistry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal UniversityAbstract Background Nest parasitism by cuckoos (Cuculus spp.) results in enormous reproductive failure and forces hosts to evolve antiparasitic strategies, i.e., recognition of own eggs and rejection of cuckoo eggs. There are often sexual conflicts between male and female individuals in the expression of antiparasitic behavior due to the differences in reproductive inputs and division of labor. Methods By adding a foreign egg made of blue soft clay to the host nest during early incubation period in the field, and by removing several host eggs and adding experimental eggs to control the proportion of two egg types in the nest, we examined egg rejection ability, egg recognition mechanism and sexual difference in egg rejection of the Oriental Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis), one of the major hosts of Common Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus). Results Our results indicated that Oriental Reed Warblers can recognize and reject nearly 100% (73/75) of the non-mimetic eggs made of blue soft clay, and they could reject foreign eggs with 100% accuracy, regardless of the ratio of experimental eggs and its own eggs in the nest. Furthermore, all cases of egg rejections recorded by videos were only carried out by females. Conclusions Oriental Reed Warblers have a high egg recognition ability and show a true recognition mechanism. Only female warblers perform egg rejection, suggesting that the sex for host egg incubation seems to play an important role in the evolution of egg recognition mechanisms.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-021-00283-4Cuckoo parasitismDiscordancyEgg recognition mechanismEgg rejectionTrue recognition |
| spellingShingle | Laikun Ma Wei Liang Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers Avian Research Cuckoo parasitism Discordancy Egg recognition mechanism Egg rejection True recognition |
| title | Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers |
| title_full | Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers |
| title_fullStr | Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers |
| title_short | Egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in Oriental Reed Warblers |
| title_sort | egg rejection and egg recognition mechanisms in oriental reed warblers |
| topic | Cuckoo parasitism Discordancy Egg recognition mechanism Egg rejection True recognition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-021-00283-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laikunma eggrejectionandeggrecognitionmechanismsinorientalreedwarblers AT weiliang eggrejectionandeggrecognitionmechanismsinorientalreedwarblers |