Pre- and post-insemination episodes of sexual selection in the fowl, Gallus g. domesticus

Abstract

Although much attention has been recently directed to sexual selection arising after insemination from sexual promiscuity, little is known about the mechanisms determining reproductive success after insemination, and the way these mechanisms interact with each other and with selective mechanisms occurring before insemination: mate choice and mate acquisition. Here, we briefly review the findings of an on-going study investigating the mechanisms generating variation in reproductive success at both a pre-and a postinsemination stage in the domestic fowl. Female preference consistently favours socially dominant males before and

A cry for help: female distress calling during copulation is context dependent

“…direct mate choice for male ornament; indirect mate choice for traits favoured in male-male competition). However, these selective pressures are likely to coincide in the fowl when high-ranking males are preferred through both direct and indirect precopulatory female mate choice (Pizzari, 2001;Pizzari et al, 2002;Dean et al, 2010) together with certain postcopulatory female mate choice mechanisms (e.g. Pizzari and…”

“…Males of high rank and/or those with a large comb are preferred by female fowl as mating partners Pizzari & Birkhead, 2000;Pizzari, 2001;Pizzari et al, 2002). The comb and status are the only male traits that are consistently demonstrated to affect female mate choice in the fowl Pizzari & Birkhead, 2000;Pizzari, 2001;Pizzari et al, 2002). Female precopulatory mate choice in the species is limited and males initiate most copulations (over 90%), often through sexual coercion (Pizzari, 2001;Løvlie & Pizzari, 2007).…”

“…Male fowl have a large secondary sexual ornament, a red fleshy comb, for which size correlates positively with status Parker & Ligon, 2002;Cornwallis & Birkhead, 2008) and signals quality (Hamilton & Zuk, 1982;. Males of high rank and/or those with a large comb are preferred by female fowl as mating partners Pizzari & Birkhead, 2000;Pizzari, 2001;Pizzari et al, 2002). The comb and status are the only male traits that are consistently demonstrated to affect female mate choice in the fowl Pizzari & Birkhead, 2000;Pizzari, 2001;Pizzari et al, 2002).…”

“…In the domestic fowl and its wild ancestor the red junglefowl (Fumihito et al, 1994), individuals form groups characterized by social hierarchies and intense sexual selection (Collias & Collias, 1996;Pizzari et al, 2002). Male fowl have a large secondary sexual ornament, a red fleshy comb, for which size correlates positively with status Parker & Ligon, 2002;Cornwallis & Birkhead, 2008) and signals quality (Hamilton & Zuk, 1982;.…”

“…Both male and female fowl are sexually promiscuous (Pizzari et al, 2002) and previous sexual history reduces female propensity to remate. Female remating propensity is clearly reduced when comparing first versus successive days of access to males and matings, after females have been sexually rested and housed without males for 14 days, which is the mean time for which females store sperm (Løvlie et al, 2005;Løvlie & Pizzari, 2007 and references therein).…”