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Male sexual attractiveness affects the investment of maternal resources into the eggs in peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

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Abstract

According to the differential investment hypothesis, females paired with attractive mates are expected to invest more in the current reproduction relative to females paired with unattractive males. We experimentally tested this hypothesis in the peafowl (Pavo cristatus) by providing females with males that differed in sexual attractiveness. In agreement with the differential allocation hypothesis, females paired with more ornamented males laid larger eggs, and deposited higher amounts of testosterone into the egg yolk, independently of the sex of the embryo. These results show that the association between paternal phenotype and offspring quality could arise via a differential maternal investment. They also suggest that, if ornamented males do transmit good genes to the progeny, the maternal differential investment can amplify the effect of such good genes on the offspring fitness.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Jarek Szczepaniak and the keepers for their help in catching the birds, Laetitia Girard and Camille Liaigre for their assistance in rearing the chicks, and Didier Catteville for his technical advice. Many thanks is due for all the people who adopted the chicks. We are very grateful to Tim Parker, Jeff Graves, and an anonymous referee who greatly improved this manuscript. This work was supported by the CNRS (ACI Jeunes Chercheurs to GS), MNHN, and Conseil Général de Seine Maritime. The experiment conducted herein complies with the current laws of the country in which it was performed.

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  1. Gabriele Sorci

    Present address: BioGéoSciences, CNRS UMR 5561, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000, Dijon, France

  2. Adeline Loyau

    Present address: Department of Conservation Biology, UFZ, Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig–Halle, Leipzig, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Parasitologie Evolutive, CNRS UMR 7103, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Bât. A, 7ème étage, 7 quai St. Bernard, Case 237, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Adeline Loyau & Gabriele Sorci

  2. Conservation des Espèces, Restauration et Suivi des Populations, CNRS UMR 5173, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

    Adeline Loyau, Michel Saint Jalme & Robert Mauget

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  1. Adeline Loyau
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  2. Michel Saint Jalme
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Correspondence to Adeline Loyau.

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Communicated by: M. Soler

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Loyau, A., Saint Jalme, M., Mauget, R. et al. Male sexual attractiveness affects the investment of maternal resources into the eggs in peafowl (Pavo cristatus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 61, 1043–1052 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0337-3

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