Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The differential allocation hypothesis (DAH) predicts that individuals should adjust their parental investment to their current mate’s quality. Although in principle the DAH holds for both sexes, male adjustment of parental investm...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2012-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Zoology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/9/1/14 |
| _version_ | 1818788171501010944 |
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| author | Mahr Katharina Griggio Matteo Granatiero Michela Hoi Herbert |
| author_facet | Mahr Katharina Griggio Matteo Granatiero Michela Hoi Herbert |
| author_sort | Mahr Katharina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The differential allocation hypothesis (DAH) predicts that individuals should adjust their parental investment to their current mate’s quality. Although in principle the DAH holds for both sexes, male adjustment of parental investment has only been tested in a few experimental studies, revealing contradictory results. We conducted a field experiment to test whether male blue tits (<it>Cyanistes caeruleus</it>) allocate their parental effort in relation to female ornamentation (ultraviolet colouration of the crown), as predicted by the DAH.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We reduced the UV reflectance in a sample of females and compared parental care by their mates with that of males paired to sham-manipulated control females. As predicted by the DAH our results demonstrate that males paired with UV-reduced females invested less in feeding effort but did not defend the chicks less than males paired with control females.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies providing support for male differential allocation in response to female ornamentation.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T14:19:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99c3e99776c447449bfeb102146a3e54 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1742-9994 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T14:19:26Z |
| publishDate | 2012-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
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| series | Frontiers in Zoology |
| spelling | doaj.art-99c3e99776c447449bfeb102146a3e542022-12-21T21:04:53ZengBMCFrontiers in Zoology1742-99942012-06-01911410.1186/1742-9994-9-14Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue titsMahr KatharinaGriggio MatteoGranatiero MichelaHoi Herbert<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The differential allocation hypothesis (DAH) predicts that individuals should adjust their parental investment to their current mate’s quality. Although in principle the DAH holds for both sexes, male adjustment of parental investment has only been tested in a few experimental studies, revealing contradictory results. We conducted a field experiment to test whether male blue tits (<it>Cyanistes caeruleus</it>) allocate their parental effort in relation to female ornamentation (ultraviolet colouration of the crown), as predicted by the DAH.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We reduced the UV reflectance in a sample of females and compared parental care by their mates with that of males paired to sham-manipulated control females. As predicted by the DAH our results demonstrate that males paired with UV-reduced females invested less in feeding effort but did not defend the chicks less than males paired with control females.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies providing support for male differential allocation in response to female ornamentation.</p>http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/9/1/14Female ornamentationMale allocationParental careUltraviolet colouration |
| spellingShingle | Mahr Katharina Griggio Matteo Granatiero Michela Hoi Herbert Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits Frontiers in Zoology Female ornamentation Male allocation Parental care Ultraviolet colouration |
| title | Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits |
| title_full | Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits |
| title_fullStr | Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits |
| title_full_unstemmed | Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits |
| title_short | Female attractiveness affects paternal investment: experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits |
| title_sort | female attractiveness affects paternal investment experimental evidence for male differential allocation in blue tits |
| topic | Female ornamentation Male allocation Parental care Ultraviolet colouration |
| url | http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/9/1/14 |
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