Social context and the evolution of delayed reproduction in birds.

ABSTRACT: One puzzling feature of avian life histories is that individuals in many different lineages delay reproduction for several years after they finish growing. Intraspecific field studies suggest that various complex social contexts-such as cooperative breeding groups, nesting colonies, and display leks-result in delayed reproduction because they require forms of sociosexual development that extend beyond physical maturation. Here, we explicitly propose this hypothesis and use a full suite of phylogenetic comparative methods to test it, analyzing the evolution of age at first reproduction (AFR) in females and males across 963 species of birds. Phylogenetic regressions support increased AFR in colonial females and males, cooperatively breeding males, and lekking males. Continuous Ornstein-Uhlen

SUBMITTER: Taylor LU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10418290 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature