Female extrapair mate choice in a cooperative breeder: trading sex for help and increasing offspring heterozygosity.

ABSTRACT: Sexual conflict between males and females over mating is common. Females that copulate with extrapair mates outside the pair-bond may gain (i) direct benefits such as resources or increased paternal care, (ii) indirect genetic benefits for their offspring, or (iii) insurance against infertility in their own social mate. Few studies have been able to demonstrate the different contexts in which females receive varying types of benefits from extrapair mates. Here, I examined sexual conflict, female extrapair mate choice, and patterns of extrapair paternity in the cooperatively breeding superb starling Lamprotornis superbus using microsatellite markers. Although extrapair paternity was lower than many other avian cooperative breeders (14% of offspring and 25% of nests), females exhibited two d

SUBMITTER: Rubenstein DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2270931 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature