Analysis of within-individual variation in extrapair paternity in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) shows low repeatability and little effect of changes in neighborhood.

ABSTRACT: Many studies investigated variation in the frequency of extrapair paternity (EPP) among individuals. However, our understanding of within-individual variation in EPP remains limited. Here, we comprehensively investigate variation in EPP at the within-individual level in a population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Our study is based on parentage data comprising >10 000 genotyped offspring across 11 breeding seasons. First, we examined the repeatability of the occurrence of EPP, the number of extrapair offspring, the number of extrapair partners, and the occurrence of paternity loss using data from males and females that bred in multiple years. Second, we tested whether within-individual changes in EPP between breeding seasons relate to between-year changes in the local social en

SUBMITTER: Beck KB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7689542 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature