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Polyandry in coal tits Parus ater : fitness consequences of putting eggs into multiple genetic baskets
Author(s) -
SCHMOLL T.,
SCHURR F. M.,
WINKEL W.,
EPPLEN J. T.,
LUBJUHN T.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01288.x
Subject(s) - biology , sire , brood , genetic diversity , mating , ecology , mating system , evolutionary biology , zoology , offspring , reproductive success , demography , genetics , population , sociology , pregnancy
Females of many species mate with multiple males within a single reproductive cycle. One hypothesis to explain polyandry postulates that females benefit from increasing within‐brood genetic diversity. Two mechanisms may render sire genetic diversity beneficial for females, genetic bet‐hedging vs. non‐bet‐hedging. We analysed whether females of the socially monogamous coal tit ( Parus ater ) benefit via either of these mechanisms when engaging in extra‐pair (i.e. polyandrous) mating. To obtain a measure of within‐brood genetic diversity as a function of paternal genetic contributions, we calculated a sire diversity index based on the established Shannon–Wiener Index. In 246 broods from two consecutive years, sire genetic diversity had no effect on either the mean or the variance in brood fitness measured as offspring recruitment within 4 years after birth. The hypothesis that benefits of increasing sire diversity contribute to selection for female extra‐pair mating behaviour in P. ater was therefore not supported.