Genetic Parent-Offspring Relationships Predict Sexual Differences in Contributions to Parental Care in the Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Abstract
Negative relationships between the degree of parental investment and the presence of unrelated offspring in the nest due to extra-pair paternity (EPP) or conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) are predicted in monogamous species. This is because investing in unrelated offspring is costly to individual parents. However, such strategies may be adaptive for one social partner. Because parental investment changes in response to that by the social partner, the predicted relationship needs to be assessed empirically in wild animal populations, with consideration for male and female parental care. Furthermore, both EPP and CBP must be considered simultaneously in such a study. In this study, we tackled the issue using the semi-colonial Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus, in which both EPP and CBP were predicted to occur. We tested…..
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Article Information:
Haruna Sakamoto, Daisuke Aoki, Shingo Uemura, Masaoki Takagi,
Predict Sexual Differences in Contributions to Parental Care in the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
Ornithological Science, 22(1):45-56 (2023).
DOI:10.2326/osj.22.45
