Summary
Measures of relative gamete contribution were related to degree of parental investment for both males and females from six groups of communally breeding pukeko (Porphyrio porphyrio). If there is a fitness cost to participation in parental duties, then for males parental investment should relate to degree of confidence of paternity while for females investment should relate to the number of eggs laid. Data were analysed in two ways: (1) by looking at individuals of the same sex within the same group to see if males that had a greater probability of paternity and females that had greater number of eggs in a nest subsequently invested relatively more in parental duties and (2) by pooling the data from the six groups and determining if there was a positive correlation between measures of presumed gamete contribution and amount of parental investment. The results from both types of analyses are variable and give no clear support for a positive relationship between presumed gamete contribution and parental investment even though a possible fitness cost is suggested. Factors which might influence investment are discussed.
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Craig, J.L., Jamieson, I.G. The relationship between presumed gamete contribution and parental investment in a communally breeding bird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 17, 207–211 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300138
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300138