Evolution of Polygamy in the Long-Billed Marsh Wren

Verner, Jared

doi:10.2307/2406398

Cited by 191 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This reduces the need for females to obtain care and together with high female densities, facilitates the evolution of polygyny (e.g. Verner 1964;Orians 1969;Wittenberger 1976).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of different modes of parental care in birds

2006

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Estimates of the incidence of major classes of parental care by birds are drawn from classical studies that preceded both the publication of a massive secondary literature and the revolution driven by molecular approaches to avian phylogeny. Here, I review this literature in the light of new phylogenetic hypotheses and estimate the prevalence of six distinct modes of care: use of geothermal heat to incubate eggs, brood parasitism, male only care, female only care, biparental care and cooperative breeding. Female only care and cooperative breeding are more common than has previously been recognized, occurring in 8 and 9% of species, respectively. Biparental care by a pair bonded male and female is the most common pattern of care but at 81% of species, the pattern is less common than once believed. I identify several problems with existing hypotheses for the evolution of parental care and highlight a number of poorly understood contrasts which, once resolved, should help elucidate avian social evolution.

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“…This reduces the need for females to obtain care and together with high female densities, facilitates the evolution of polygyny (e.g. Verner 1964;Orians 1969;Wittenberger 1976).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of different modes of parental care in birds

2006

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“…However, this island study site provided a unique opportunity to monitor an entire population of approximately 30 adult foxes which were diurnally active, individually ear tagged and had no fear of human observers. Thus, it was The polygyny threshold model was first developed to expain the evolution of avian mating systems (Verner 1964;Willson 1966;Orians 1969). This model predicts that the polygyny threshold is reached when a female pairing with an already mated male experiences reproductive success that is equal to or greater than a female pairing with an unmated male.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shift in red fox, Vulpes vulpes, mating system associated with El Niño in the Bering Sea

1989

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“…Females usually su¡er from having to share resources such as male parental care, so the main question has been why should females mate with already-paired males if other breeding options are available ? The polygynythreshold model (Verner 1964;Verner & Willson 1966;Orians 1969) provides an answer: it suggests that females do better (in terms of ¢tness) by mating with an alreadypaired male in a high-quality breeding situation (e.g. territory) than by settling with an unpaired male in a low-quality breeding situation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bill morphology reflects female independence from male parental help

Forstmeier

Leisler

Kempenaers

2001

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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The study of territorial polygyny in birds has been in£uential in the development of the theory of social mating systems. Alternative female mating options have been studied within the framework of the polygyny-threshold model and later as the outcome of con£icts of interest between individuals. However, little attention has been given to variations between individual females, and how this a¡ects their mating behaviour. Here, we test the hypothesis that some females are better adapted to raise nestlings without male assistance, and thus to mate polygynously. Speci¢cally, we investigate whether intraspeci¢c variation in female bill morphology is related to mating behaviour. This hypothesis is derived from earlier studies showing that, in both intra-and interspeci¢c comparisons, uniparental care by females is correlated with the catching of larger prey items than when both parents provision the young. Using the polygynous dusky warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) as a model species, we found that, in accordance with our prediction, females with deep bills were more likely to mate as a secondary female. Moreover, regardless of mating status, females with deep bills settled in territories with more food and they received less male assistance in feeding their o¡spring. We argue that females with stronger bills are better adapted to exploit the abundance of large food items in rich territories and thus to raise young on their own. Our results demonstrate the importance of studying variations between individual females, and provide evidence for an extended version of the`constrained-female hypothesis'. As bill depth is a highly heritable trait, our study strongly suggests that variation in female mating behaviour is not only related to ecological factors and female condition (as shown elsewhere) but also to heritable morphological traits.

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Evolution of Polygamy in the Long-Billed Marsh Wren

Cited by 191 publications

References 5 publications

Prevalence of different modes of parental care in birds

Prevalence of different modes of parental care in birds

Shift in red fox, Vulpes vulpes, mating system associated with El Niño in the Bering Sea

Bill morphology reflects female independence from male parental help

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