Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.


Science 30 September 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5744, pp. 2210 - 2212
DOI: 10.1126/science.1115090

Reports

Dynamic Paternity Allocation as a Function of Male Plumage Color in Barn Swallows

R. J. Safran,1,2* C. R. Neuman,2 K. J. McGraw,3 I. J. Lovette1,2

Paternity in male animals can be influenced by their phenotypic signals of quality. Accordingly, the behavior underlying patterns of paternity should be flexible as signals of quality change. To evaluate the dynamics of paternity allocation, we analyzed paternity before and after manipulating plumage coloration, a known signal of quality, in male barn swallows Hirundo rustica. We found that, in successive breeding bouts, only males whose plumage color was experimentally enhanced received greater paternity from their social mates, demonstrating evidence for flexible and dynamic paternity allocation and the importance for males of maintaining signals of quality well after pair bond formation.

1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
2 Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
3 School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.

* Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rsafran{at}princeton.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Long tails matter in sugarbirds--positively for extrapair but negatively for within-pair fertilization success.
M. L. McFarlane, M. R. Evans, K. A. Feldheim, M. Preault, R. C.K. Bowie, and M. I. Cherry (2009)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reduced extrapair paternity in response to experimental stimulation of earlier incubation onset in blue tits.
O. Vedder, M. J.L. Magrath, A. M.F. Harts, E. Schut, M. van der Velde, and J. Komdeur (2009)
Behav. Ecol.
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Females of carotenoid-supplemented males are more faithful and produce higher quality offspring.
F. Helfenstein, S. Losdat, V. Saladin, and H. Richner (2008)
Behav. Ecol. 19, 1165-1172
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Territory quality drives intraspecific patterns of extrapair paternity.
D. R. Rubenstein (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 1058-1064
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Female extrapair mate choice in a cooperative breeder: trading sex for help and increasing offspring heterozygosity.
D. R Rubenstein (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1895-1903
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fertilization success and UV ornamentation in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus: correlational and experimental evidence.
K. Delhey, A. Peters, A. Johnsen, and B. Kempenaers (2007)
Behav. Ecol. 18, 399-409
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »



To Advertise     Find Products


Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)