Indirect fitness benefits through extra-pair mating are large for an inbred minority, but cannot explain widespread infidelity among red-winged fairy-wrens.

ABSTRACT: Extra-pair paternity (EPP) has been suggested to improve the genetic quality of offspring, but evidence has been equivocal. Benefits of EPP may be only available to specific individuals or under certain conditions. Red-winged fairy-wrens have extremely high levels of EPP, suggesting fitness benefits might be large and available to most individuals. Furthermore, extreme philopatry commonly leads to incestuous social pairings, so inbreeding avoidance may be an important selection pressure. Here, we quantified the fitness benefits of EPP under varying conditions and across life-stages. Extra-pair offspring (EPO) did not appear to have higher fitness than within-pair offspring (WPO), neither in poor years nor in the absence of helpers-at-the-nest. However, EPP was beneficial for closely relate

SUBMITTER: Lichtenauer W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7172280 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature