Flight performance in the altricial zebra finch: Developmental effects and reproductive consequences

Crino, Ondi L.; Oorschot, Brett Klaassen van; Crandell, Kristen E.; Breuner, Creagh W.; Tobalske, Bret W.

doi:10.1002/ece3.2775

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, although the study was performed during the reproductive period of the species when we would expect a preference for the scent of the best potential partner, our results show that females avoided the scent of males with greater body condition and body size. Our results are difficult to explain in a sexual context because males with better body condition may have a greater reproductive success [51]. Furthermore, previous evidence has found an overall preference of females for males of better body condition and size [52], although other studies have found assortative mating in this species [53,54].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Zebra Finch Females Can Assess Male Quality via Olfaction

Amo¹,

Rull²

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The role of chemical communication in social relationships of birds is receiving growing attention but our knowledge is still scarce compared to other taxa. Previous evidence suggests that chemical cues emitted by birds may carry information about their characteristics that may be useful in a sexual selection context. However, experimental studies are needed to investigate the role of bird chemical cues in signalling quality of potential partners. We performed an experimental study aimed to disentangle whether female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, use chemical cues to assess the body condition and body size of potential partners. We offered focal females the scent of two males differing in body condition and body size. Our results show that females can assess the body condition of potential partners using olfaction. However, contrary to expected in a mate choice context, our results show that females avoided the scent of the male with greater body condition and body size. Our results therefore suggest that, despite performing the study during breeding period, social interactions may be mediating the avoidance of the scent of the conspecific of the opposite sex with better body condition and body size in this gregarious species.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Zebra Finch Females Can Assess Male Quality via Olfaction

Amo¹,

Rull²

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Indeed, developmental stress has been shown to have persistent effects on numerous phenotypic traits across many life‐history stages. Some examples of the broad range of phenotypic traits altered by developmental conditions include: animal performance (Chin et al ., ; Crino et al ., ), body size (Pavlovska‐Teglia et al ., ), behaviour (Spencer & Verhulst, ) and cognitive ability (Nowicki, Searcy & Peters, ; Farrell et al ., ). Furthermore, recent meta‐analyses have also shown that specific types of developmental stress (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of developmental stress on animal phenotype and performance: a quantitative review

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Developmental stressors are increasingly recognised for their pervasive influence on the ecology and evolution of animals. In particular, many studies have focused on how developmental stress can give rise to variation in adult behaviour, physiology, and performance. However, there remains a poor understanding of whether general patterns exist in the effects and magnitude of phenotypic responses across taxonomic groups. Furthermore, given the extensive phenotypic variation that arises from developmental stressors, it remains important to ascertain how multiple processes may explain these responses. We compiled data from 111 studies to examine and quantify the effect of developmental stress on animal phenotype and performance from juveniles to adulthood, including studies from birds, reptiles, fish, mammals, insects, arachnids, and amphibians. Using meta-analytic approaches, we show that across all studies there is, on average, a moderate to large negative effect of developmental stress exposure (posterior mean effect: |d| = −0.51) on animal phenotype or performance. Additionally, we demonstrate that interactive effects of timing of stressor onset and the duration of exposure to stressors best explained variation in developmental stress responses. Animals exposed to stressors earlier in development had more-positive responses than those with later onset, whereas longer duration of exposure to a stressor caused responses to be stronger in magnitude. However, the high amount of heterogeneity in our results, and the low degree of variance explained by fixed effects in both the meta-analysis (R 2 = 0.034) and top-ranked meta-regression model (R 2 = 0.02), indicate that phenotypic responses to developmental stressors are likely highly idiosyncratic in nature and difficult to predict. Despite this, our analyses address a critical knowledge gap in understanding what effect developmental stress has on phenotypic variation in animals. Additionally, our results highlight important environmental and proximate factors that may influence phenotypic responses to developmental stressors.

show abstract

“…However, although the study was performed during the reproductive period of the species, when we would expect a preference for the scent of the best potential partner, our results showed that females avoided the scent of males with a higher body condition, i.e., greater body mass and body size. Our results are difficult to explain in a sexual context because males with better body condition may have greater reproductive Birds 2024, 5 132 success [53]. Furthermore, previous evidence has found an overall preference of females for males with better body condition and size [54], although other studies have found assortative mating in this species [55,56].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Zebra Finch Females Avoided the Scent of Males with Greater Body Condition

Amo,

López-Rull

2024

Birds

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The role of chemical communication in the social relationships of birds is receiving growing attention, but our knowledge is still scarce compared to that of other taxa. Previous evidence suggests that chemical cues emitted by birds may carry information about their characteristics, which may be useful in the context of sexual selection. However, experimental studies are needed to investigate the role of bird chemical cues in signalling the quality of potential partners. We performed an experimental study aimed at disentangling whether the female Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata), use chemical cues to assess the body condition of potential partners. We offered focal females (N = 28) the scent of two males differing in body condition (body mass/tarsus length ratio) (N = 28 scent donor males). Our results showed that females can assess the body condition of potential partners using olfaction. However, contrary to what should be expected in a mate choice context, females avoided the scent of males with greater body condition. Our results, therefore, suggest that, despite performing the study during the breeding period, social interactions may be mediating the avoidance of the scent of the male in better condition in this gregarious species, probably to avoid a conspecific competitor with better body condition.

show abstract

Flight performance in the altricial zebra finch: Developmental effects and reproductive consequences

Cited by 9 publications

References 79 publications

Zebra Finch Females Can Assess Male Quality via Olfaction

Zebra Finch Females Can Assess Male Quality via Olfaction

Effects of developmental stress on animal phenotype and performance: a quantitative review

Zebra Finch Females Avoided the Scent of Males with Greater Body Condition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About