1
|
Schlicht E, Gilsenan C, Santema P, Türk A, Wittenzellner A, Kempenaers B. Removal of older males increases extra-pair siring success of yearling males. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002584. [PMID: 38626215 PMCID: PMC11020368 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/18/2024] Open
Abstract
In animals, reproductive performance typically improves over time early in life. Several ultimate and proximate mechanisms may contribute to such an age-related improvement and these mechanisms can act in a relative or in an absolute sense. Low performance of young individuals may be the consequence of a comparison or competition with older individuals (relative), or it may be due to specific traits of young individuals and be unrelated to the presence of older competitors (absolute). Here, we perform a test to disentangle whether the effect of age class (yearling or older) on male extra-pair siring success is relative or absolute. Male age is the most consistent predictor of male extra-pair siring success across bird species, yet the mechanisms underlying this pattern are not well understood. Low extra-pair siring success of yearling males may be a consequence of the presence of older ("adult") males (hypothesis 1), because adult males are more successful in intra- and intersexual interactions or because females prefer to copulate with adult males when available (relative preference). Alternatively, low extra-pair siring success of yearlings may be independent of the presence of adult males (hypothesis 2), for example, if yearling males on average invest less in extra-pair behavior or if females avoid them as extra-pair mates, independent of the availability of older males (absolute preference). To distinguish between these 2 hypotheses, we experimentally manipulated the age structure of a nest-box-breeding population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) by removing almost all adult males, and compared patterns of extra-pair paternity in the experimental year with those from the preceding 15 "control" years. Removal of adult males resulted in a substantial increase in the extra-pair siring success of yearling males compared to the "control" years, but did not affect the population-level frequency of extra-pair paternity or its spatial patterns. Our results provide clear evidence that extra-pair siring success of yearlings can increase and that it depends on the presence of older males in the population, indicating a relative effect of age on reproductive performance. These results suggest that older males outcompete yearling males in direct or indirect interactions, in sperm competition or as a result of differences in attractiveness to females.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emmi Schlicht
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Department of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Carol Gilsenan
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Department of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Peter Santema
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Department of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Agnes Türk
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Department of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Andrea Wittenzellner
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Department of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Bart Kempenaers
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Department of Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Logue DM, Bonnell TR. Skewed performance distributions as evidence of motor constraint in sports and animal displays. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230692. [PMID: 38026035 PMCID: PMC10645065 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Animal displays (i.e. movement-based signals) often involve extreme behaviours that seem to push signallers to the limits of their abilities. If motor constraints limit display performance, signal evolution will be constrained, and displays can function as honest signals of quality. Existing approaches for measuring constraint, however, require multiple kinds of behavioural data. A method that requires only one kind could open up new research directions. We propose a conceptual model of performance under constraint, which predicts that the distribution of constrained performance will skew away from the constraint. We tested this prediction with sports data, because we know a priori that athletic performance is constrained and that athletes attempt to maximize performance. Performance consistently skewed in the predicted direction in a variety of sports. We then used statistical models based on the skew normal distribution to estimate the constraints on athletes and displaying animals while controlling for potential confounds and clustered data. We concluded that motor constraints tend to generate skewed behaviour and that skew normal models are useful tools to estimate constraints from a single axis of behavioural data. This study expands the toolkit for identifying, characterizing, and comparing performance constraints for applications in animal behaviour, physiology and sports.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David M. Logue
- Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
| | - Tyler R. Bonnell
- Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Schlicht E, Kempenaers B. Age trajectories in extra-pair siring success suggest an effect of maturation or early-life experience. J Evol Biol 2023; 36:1213-1225. [PMID: 37438929 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
Across birds, male age is the most consistent predictor of extra-pair siring success, yet little is known about age effects on paternity over the lifetime of individuals. Here, we use data from a 13-year study of a population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) to investigate how extra-pair siring success changes with age within individuals. Our results indicate that extra-pair siring success does not continuously increase with male age. Instead, siring success was related to male age in a threshold fashion, whereby yearling males were less likely to gain paternity than older males. This effect was independent of the age of the social partner, but influenced by the age of the extra-pair female: success of yearlings at siring extra-pair young (EPY) with older females was even lower. Among males that sired at least one EPY, the number of extra-pair mates and the proportion of EPY sired were unrelated to male age. We found no evidence for an influence of selective disappearance on extra-pair reproduction. Senescence, if anything, only occurs at ages blue tits rarely reach. A literature review indicates that an effect of male age on extra-pair siring success may be limited to the switch from yearling to older in many species. Thus, the generally observed age effect on male extra-pair siring success may be linked to age class rather than continuous ageing. This suggests that lack of experience or not fully completed maturation are important drivers of age patterns in extra-pair paternity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emmi Schlicht
- Department of Ornithology, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Bart Kempenaers
- Department of Ornithology, Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, Seewiesen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Individuality, as well as genetic background, affects syntactical features of courtship songs in male mice. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
|
5
|
How king penguins advertise their sexual maturity. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
6
|
Jablonszky M, Zsebők S, Laczi M, Nagy G, Vaskuti É, Garamszegi LZ. The effect of social environment on bird song: listener-specific expression of a sexual signal. Behav Ecol 2021; 32:395-406. [PMID: 34899049 PMCID: PMC8653761 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 11/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Animal signals should consistently differ among individuals to convey distinguishable information about the signalers. However, behavioral display signals, such as bird song are also loaded with considerable within-individual variance with mostly unknown function. We hypothesized that the immediate social environment may play a role in mediating such variance component, and investigated in the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) if the identity and quality of listeners could affect song production in signalers. After presenting territorial males with either a female or male social stimulus, we found in the subsequent song recordings that the among-stimulus effects corresponded to non-zero variance components in several acoustic traits indicating that singing males are able to plastically adjust their songs according to stimulus identity. Male and female stimuli elicited different responses as the identity of the female stimuli affected song complexity only, while the identity of male stimuli altered also song length, maximum frequency, and song rate. The stimulus-specific effect on song in some cases decreased with time, being particularly detectable right after the removal of the stimulus and ceasing later, but this pattern varied across the sex of the stimulus and the song traits. We were able to identify factors that can explain the among-stimulus effects (e.g., size and quality of the stimuli) with roles that also varied among song traits. Our results confirm that the variable social environment can raise considerable variation in song performance, highlighting that within-individual plasticity of bird song can play important roles in sexual signaling.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mónika Jablonszky
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological
Research, Alkotmány u. 2–4, 2163
Vácrátót, Hungary
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and
Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University,
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Sándor Zsebők
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological
Research, Alkotmány u. 2–4, 2163
Vácrátót, Hungary
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and
Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University,
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Miklós Laczi
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and
Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University,
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
- The Barn Owl Foundation, Temesvári út 8,
8744 Orosztony, Hungary
| | - Gergely Nagy
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological
Research, Alkotmány u. 2–4, 2163
Vácrátót, Hungary
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and
Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University,
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Éva Vaskuti
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and
Ecology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University,
Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - László Zsolt Garamszegi
- Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological
Research, Alkotmány u. 2–4, 2163
Vácrátót, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group,
Institute of Physics, Eötvös Loránd
University, Pázmány Péter
sétány 1/A, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Paul N, Thompson MJ, Foote JR. Characterising the flight song: repeatable individual variation of Ovenbird song features. BIOACOUSTICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2020.1718552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nadine Paul
- Department of Biology, Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
| | - Megan J. Thompson
- Department of Biology, Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
| | - Jennifer R. Foote
- Department of Biology, Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Senescence of song revealed by a long-term study of the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis). Sci Rep 2020; 10:20479. [PMID: 33235292 PMCID: PMC7686343 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77405-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Senescence is widespread in nature, often resulting in diminishing survival or reproduction with age, but its role in age-dependent variation in sexual traits is often poorly understood. One reason is that few studies of sexual traits consider non-linear relationships with age, or only consider a narrow range of years relative to the life span of the species. Birdsong has evolved to allow assessment of conspecific quality in numerous bird species. Whilst theory and empirical work suggests that song may become more elaborate with age, there are a paucity of long-term studies testing whether song is associated with age or longevity. In particular, the occurrence of song senescence has rarely been demonstrated. Using an exceptional long-term dataset for the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis), we analysed relationships between male song, age, survival, and longevity. This species is a long-lived songbird with early life increases, followed by senescent declines, in survival and reproduction. The study population (Cousin Island, Seychelles) is a closed population, with no depredation of adults, providing an excellent opportunity to study senescence in free-living animals. We tested whether song traits were related to age at recording, future survival, longevity, and territory quality. We found age-dependent changes in five song traits (duration, maximum frequency, peak frequency of songs, and duration and frequency bandwidth of trills). Relationships with age were quadratic, indicating reversal in the expression of song coinciding with the onset of senescence in reproduction and survival in this species. One song trait (trill bandwidth) had a quadratic relationship with future survival, but no song traits were related to longevity, suggesting age-related patterns were not the result of selective disappearance. Our study provides one of the first examples of functional senescence in song, offering new insights into avian senescence. Late-life declines in avian song, and possibly other sexual traits, may be more common than currently known, and may play a fundamental role in age-dependent changes in reproductive success.
Collapse
|
9
|
Zipple MN, Peters S, Searcy WA, Nowicki S. Female swamp sparrows do not show evidence of discriminating between the songs of peak‐aged and senescent males. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Susan Peters
- Department of Biology Duke University Durham North Carolina USA
| | | | - Stephen Nowicki
- Department of Biology Duke University Durham North Carolina USA
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Long-term stability in the vocal duets of the endangered Siberian Crane Leucogeranus leucogeranus. Polar Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00300-020-02689-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
|