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Promiscuity in the Greater Rhea: a genetic approach

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Abstract

Greater Rheas (Rhea americana) have a social mating system in which several females lay eggs in communal nests, and males incubate and care for chicks. Behavioural observation methods used so far are insufficient to unravel if females form a cohesive “harem,” simultaneous polyandry (promiscuity) occurs in the wild, and multipaternity occurs in each clutch. We used molecular markers to conduct for the first time a genotype-based sibship and parentage assignment analysis among reproductive individuals and their offspring, within and between nests, in a wild Greater Rhea population of central Argentina. In a 4800-ha area, we found five nests from which we collected complete clutches and feathers of incubating males. We successfully determined the genotypes of three males and all 141 offspring at 8 microsatellite loci. We inferred the parents involved in matings and their genotypes based on offspring’s genotypes. A total of 37 males and 47 females were engaged in the assigned pairings, and one incubating male did not fertilise any egg. We obtained three main novel results that enlighten the mating system of Rheas: (a) females do not form “harems”; (b) there is evidence of promiscuity; and (c) incubator male does not father the majority of offspring from his nest. The strategy of Greater Rheas is to copulate with several individuals simultaneously and lay eggs in different nests, independently of whether or not the incubating male fathers those eggs. These results provide a new and significant step in understanding the complex mating system of this ratite.

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The data used to support the findings in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the owners of La Colina Ranch for allowing us to conduct the sampling on their property and to the ranch workers who provided handful information. Luciana Gri helped in the fieldwork and incubation. Anonymous referees and the Editor made valuable comments. This work was supported to MBM and JLN by the Fondo Para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica of Argentina, under Grants PICT 2241, 1170, and 3458; Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología of Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), under Grant 33620180100551CB; and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), under Grant PIP2013. MBM, MBC, and JLN are researchers of UNC and CONICET. MBM, MBC, and JLN are researchers of UNC and CONICET.

Funding

This work was supported to MBM and JLN by the Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica of Argentina, under Grants PICT 2241, 1170, and 3458; Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología of Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), under Grant 33620180100551CB; and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), under Grant PIP2013. MBM, MBC, and JLN are researchers of UNC and CONICET.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal-IDEA-(Universidad Nacional de Córdoba-UNC-y Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas-CONICET-), Córdoba, Argentina

    Mónica B. Martella, Marina B. Chiappero & Joaquín L. Navarro

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Cátedra de Genética de Poblaciones y Evolución, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina

    Mauricio Renny & Marina B. Chiappero

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Cátedra de Problemática Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina

    Joaquín L. Navarro

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  1. Mónica B. Martella
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  2. Mauricio Renny
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  3. Marina B. Chiappero
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  4. Joaquín L. Navarro
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study. MM conceived and designed the work and, together with JN, provided resources; MM gathered data; MR and MC performed the analysis of data, and all four authors made interpretation of results; JN wrote the first draft of the manuscript; MM, JN, and MC supervised the work; all four authors participated in the process of writing, critical revision and intellectually relevant edition of the successive drafts, and approval of the final version to be submitted. They agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

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Correspondence to Joaquín L. Navarro.

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Martella, M.B., Renny, M., Chiappero, M.B. et al. Promiscuity in the Greater Rhea: a genetic approach. acta ethol 25, 155–164 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-022-00398-x

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