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 16 October 1998:
Vol. 282. no. 5388, pp. 471 - 472
DOI: 10.1126/science.282.5388.471
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Host-Race Formation in the Common Cuckoo

Karen Marchetti, * Hiroshi Nakamura, H. Lisle Gibbs

The exploitation of a new host by a parasite may result in host-race formation or speciation. A brood parasitic bird, the common cuckoo, is divided into host races, each characterized by egg mimicry of different host species. Microsatellite DNA markers were used to examine cuckoo mating patterns and host usage in an area where a new host has been recently colonized. Female cuckoos show strong host preferences, but individual males mate with females that lay in the nests of different hosts. Female host specialization may lead to the evolution of sex-linked traits such as egg mimicry, even though gene flow through the male line prevents completion of the speciation process.

K. Marchetti and H. L. Gibbs, Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 West Main Street, Hamilton, L8S 4K1 Ontario, Canada. H. Nakamura, Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Shinshu University, Nishinagano, Nagano, 380, Japan.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Biology 0116, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. E-mail: Marchet{at}biomail.ucsd.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Differential reproductive success favours strong host preference in a highly specialized brood parasite.
M. C De Marsico and J. C Reboreda (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 2499-2506
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Egg colour mimicry in the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus as revealed by modelling host retinal function.
J. M Aviles (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 2345-2352
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Chemical deterrent enables a socially parasitic ant to invade multiple hosts.
S. J Martin, E. A Jenner, and F. P Drijfhout (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 2717-2722
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cuckoos, cowbirds and hosts: adaptations, trade-offs and constraints.
O. Kruger (2007)
Phil Trans R Soc B 362, 1873-1886
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Habitat-dependent call divergence in the common cuckoo: is it a potential signal for assortative mating?.
T. I Fuisz and S. R de Kort (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 2093-2097
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The evolution of sexual dimorphism in parasitic cuckoos: sexual selection or coevolution?.
O Kruger, N.B Davies, and M.D Sorenson (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1553-1560
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A host-race difference in begging calls of nestling cuckoos Cuculus canorus develops through experience and increases host provisioning.
J. R Madden and N. B Davies (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 2343-2351
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A host-race of the cuckoo Cuculus canorus with nestlings attuned to the parental alarm calls of the host species.
N.B Davies, J.R Madden, S.H.M Butchart, and J Rutila (2006)
Proc R Soc B 273, 693-699
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Bateman's Principle in Cooperatively Breeding Vertebrates: The Effects of Non-breeding Alloparents on Variability in Female and Male Reproductive Success.
M. E. Hauber and E. A. Lacey (2005)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 45, 903-914
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular Genetic Perspectives on Avian Brood Parasitism.
M. D. Sorenson and R. B. Payne (2002)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 42, 388-400
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phylogeny, specialization, and brood parasite--host coevolution: some possible pitfalls of parsimony.
S. I. Rothstein, M. A. Patten, and R. C. Fleischer (2002)
Behav. Ecol. 13, 1-10
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

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