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Extrapair paternity in a German population of the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

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Abstract

We demonstrate the potential of a set of novel microsatellite markers to investigate kin structure and population genetics in the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). In this study, based on 242 individuals from a population in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), we found that 26% of the offspring in 46% of the broods were sired by other males than the social fathers. We tested different hypotheses why males engage in extrapair copulations and found that almost all identified genetic fathers originated from directly neighbouring territories. Additionally, we detected 2 out of 134 offspring in two broods that could not be assigned to their putative mother and thus were probably the result of intraspecific brood parasitism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Schloss Möggingen, Schlossallee 2, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany

    Dagmar Kudernatsch & Wolfgang Fiedler

  2. Martin Buchmann, Unterer Sand 12, 55596, Waldböckelheim, Germany

    Martin Buchmann

  3. Department Wildlife Ecology and Management, University Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106, Freiburg, Germany

    Gernot Segelbacher

Authors
  1. Dagmar Kudernatsch
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  2. Martin Buchmann
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  3. Wolfgang Fiedler
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  4. Gernot Segelbacher
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gernot Segelbacher.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Bairlein.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 2.

Table 2 List of families included in this study giving the year of sampling, the number of offspring and extrapair young (EPY) in first and second broods
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Kudernatsch, D., Buchmann, M., Fiedler, W. et al. Extrapair paternity in a German population of the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). J Ornithol 151, 491–498 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0486-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0486-z

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