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Full-Text Articles in Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Interspecific Egg Rejection As Ecological Collateral Damage From Selection Driven By Conspecific Brood Parasitism, Bruce E. Lyon, Daizaburo Shizuka, John M. Eadie May 2015

Interspecific Egg Rejection As Ecological Collateral Damage From Selection Driven By Conspecific Brood Parasitism, Bruce E. Lyon, Daizaburo Shizuka, John M. Eadie

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Distinguishing between interspecific and intraspecific coevolution as the selective driver of traits can be difficult in some taxa. A previous study of an avian obligate brood parasite, the black-headed duck, Heteronetta atricapilla, suggested that egg rejection by its two main hosts (two species of coot) is an incidental by-product of selection from conspecific brood parasitism within the hosts, not selection imposed by the interspecific parasite. However, although both species of coot can recognize and reject eggs of conspecific brood parasites, which closely resemble their own, they paradoxically also accept a moderate fraction of duck eggs (40–60%), which differ strikingly …


Females Sample More Males At High Nesting Densities, But Ultimately Obtain Less Attractive Mates, Robin M. Tinghitella, Chelsea Stehle, Janette W. Boughman Jan 2015

Females Sample More Males At High Nesting Densities, But Ultimately Obtain Less Attractive Mates, Robin M. Tinghitella, Chelsea Stehle, Janette W. Boughman

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Sexual selection is largely driven by the availability of mates. Theory predicts that male competition and female choice should be density-dependent, with males competing more intensely at relatively high density, and females becoming increasingly discriminating when there are more males from whom to choose. Evidence for flexible mating decisions is growing, but we do not understand how environmental variation is incorporated into mate sampling strategies. We mimicked threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) breeding conditions in pools with high and low densities of nesting males and allowed females to search for mates to determine whether 1) mate search strategies change with …