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Article: Investment in eggs is influenced by male coloration in the ostrich, Struthio camelus

TitleInvestment in eggs is influenced by male coloration in the ostrich, Struthio camelus
Authors
KeywordsStruthio camelus
courtship display
egg mass
maternal investment
microsatellite marker
ostrich
parentage determination
spectrophotometry
Issue Date2009
Citation
Animal Behaviour, 2009, v. 77, n. 5, p. 1027-1032 How to Cite?
AbstractLife history theory predicts that females should modify their investment in a particular breeding attempt according to the likelihood of its success, as the investment of females in reproduction is typically higher than that of males. The ostrich mating system is promiscuous, and is thus a particularly interesting one in which to investigate differential investment by the sexes. To date, there has been no evidence that female ostriches discriminate between males as potential mates, but the degree of dimorphism in this promiscuous species and the variation in chick size within clutches suggest that differential maternal investment is likely. We investigated the relationship between egg mass and coloration of the feathers, bill, neck and legs of 15 male ostriches, maintained in a breeding flock at an ostrich farm in South Africa. Paternity was determined using microsatellite markers. We found that the colour of the neck, white and black body feathers, and the brightness of black feathers, predicted egg mass. These traits are exposed during the male courtship display, so we suggest that these visual cues influence the degree of maternal investment in eggs through their influence on female perception of mate quality. © 2009 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/230831
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 2.3
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 0.924
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorBonato, Maud-
dc.contributor.authorEvans, Matthew R.-
dc.contributor.authorCherry, Michael I.-
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-01T06:06:54Z-
dc.date.available2016-09-01T06:06:54Z-
dc.date.issued2009-
dc.identifier.citationAnimal Behaviour, 2009, v. 77, n. 5, p. 1027-1032-
dc.identifier.issn0003-3472-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/230831-
dc.description.abstractLife history theory predicts that females should modify their investment in a particular breeding attempt according to the likelihood of its success, as the investment of females in reproduction is typically higher than that of males. The ostrich mating system is promiscuous, and is thus a particularly interesting one in which to investigate differential investment by the sexes. To date, there has been no evidence that female ostriches discriminate between males as potential mates, but the degree of dimorphism in this promiscuous species and the variation in chick size within clutches suggest that differential maternal investment is likely. We investigated the relationship between egg mass and coloration of the feathers, bill, neck and legs of 15 male ostriches, maintained in a breeding flock at an ostrich farm in South Africa. Paternity was determined using microsatellite markers. We found that the colour of the neck, white and black body feathers, and the brightness of black feathers, predicted egg mass. These traits are exposed during the male courtship display, so we suggest that these visual cues influence the degree of maternal investment in eggs through their influence on female perception of mate quality. © 2009 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.-
dc.languageeng-
dc.relation.ispartofAnimal Behaviour-
dc.subjectStruthio camelus-
dc.subjectcourtship display-
dc.subjectegg mass-
dc.subjectmaternal investment-
dc.subjectmicrosatellite marker-
dc.subjectostrich-
dc.subjectparentage determination-
dc.subjectspectrophotometry-
dc.titleInvestment in eggs is influenced by male coloration in the ostrich, Struthio camelus-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.description.naturelink_to_subscribed_fulltext-
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.019-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-64549120658-
dc.identifier.volume77-
dc.identifier.issue5-
dc.identifier.spage1027-
dc.identifier.epage1032-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000265283900007-
dc.identifier.issnl0003-3472-

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