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Genetic mating system and timing of extra-pair fertilizations in the Kentish plover

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Abstract

It is still unclear why females in many bird species pursue extra-pair copulations. Current hypotheses focus mainly on indirect benefits such as obtaining particular “good genes” for their offspring or maximizing genetic compatibility between themselves and the father of their offspring. Supporting the latter, a recent study of shorebirds suggests that extra-pair matings may function to avoid the negative effects of genetic similarity between mates. Here, we further investigate genetic parentage in the Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, a shorebird with a highly variable social mating system. DNA fingerprinting revealed that most pairs were genetically monogamous: 7.9% of the broods (7/89) contained extra-pair young, comprising 3.9% of all chicks (9/229). These cases represented, however, three alternative reproductive behaviors: extra-pair paternity, quasi-parasitism (extra-pair maternity) and intraspecific brood parasitism. This is the first study showing the occurrence of all three behaviors in one shorebird species. We also found that extra-pair fertilizations (extra-pair paternity and quasi-parasitism) were more frequent later in the breeding season. There was no consistent relationship between genetic similarity of mates and laying date; the pattern, as well as the degree of genetic similarity, differed among breeding sites within the study population.

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Acknowledgements

A. Johnsen, L. Oring, T. Pizzari, M. Webster and anonymous reviewers provided constructive comments on the manuscript. We also thank U. Bläsi and I. Moll (Vienna Biocenter) and K. Carter (Max Planck Research Centre for Ornithology, Seewiesen) for help with the laboratory work. The study was supported by the Konrad Lorenz Institute, Vienna, and by grants from NERC, UK (to I.C.C., A.I. Houston and J.M. McNamara, GR3/10957), the Hungarian Science Fund (to T.S., OTKA T031706), the Hungarian Ministry of Education (to T.S., FKFP-0470/2000) and the University of Veterinary Science, Budapest (to J.K., NKB-99-KUT-3-D/04). Rings were provided by the late Peter Evans (Durham University) and Radolfzell Vogelwarte, Germany. We are grateful to A. Lendvai, I. Szentirmai and Y. Demirhan for their assistance in the field. T. Yilmaz and S. Berberoglu (Çukurova University, Adana) and Ö. Karabaçak (National Park Authority, Adana) helped us with the logistics of the field work. Permissions for field work and blood sampling were provided by the Turkish Ministry for National Parks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Konrad Lorenz Institute for Comparative Ethology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Savoyenstrasse 1a, 1160, Vienna, Austria

    Clemens Küpper & Donald Blomqvist

  2. Behavioural Biology Research Group, Institute for Zoology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Rottenbiller u. 50, 1078, Budapest, Hungary

    János Kis

  3. Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032, Debrecen, Hungary

    András Kosztolányi

  4. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Tamás Székely

  5. Centre for Behavioural Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK

    Innes C. Cuthill

Authors
  1. Clemens Küpper
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  2. János Kis
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  3. András Kosztolányi
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  4. Tamás Székely
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  5. Innes C. Cuthill
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  6. Donald Blomqvist
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donald Blomqvist.

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Communicated by M. Webster

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Küpper, C., Kis, J., Kosztolányi, A. et al. Genetic mating system and timing of extra-pair fertilizations in the Kentish plover. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 57, 32–39 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-004-0832-3

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