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619 results for “paternity”
Data from: Diversity and stability of egg-bacterial assemblages: the role of paternal care in the glassfrog Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum
Embryos of oviparous organisms must cope with harsh environments and are especially susceptible to disease, considering that many immune mechanisms do not develop until later in life. Parents may transmit symbiotic microflora to eggs, which can contribute to embryo immune defense. Despite the importance of symbiotic microbes for immune function and survival of adult amphibians, vertical transfer of symbionts in amphibians has received less attention than in other taxa. Here, we test the role of male-only parental care in establishing and maintaining the diversity of egg-bacterial assemblages in a Neotropical glassfrog (Centrolenidae). Previous research suggests that father Hyalinobatrachium colymbiphyllum may transfer bacterial symbionts to their eggs. We combined a male-removal experiment in situ with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to determine whether egg attendance by father H. colymbiphyllum influences the bacterial community and survival of eggs. We found that eggs harbor a diverse and stable bacterial assemblage. Despite different host environments, we found that adult skin and eggs supported very similar bacterial assemblages—even after removing fathers. While we found overlap in the bacteria present on eggs and their fathers, our experiment reveals that extended male care does not contribute to the maintenance of egg-bacterial communities, so there may be other potential routes of transfer. This study contributes to our understanding of the diversity and maintenance of egg microbiomes, and motivates further research on how initial bacteria are acquired and the ontogenetic development of host–symbiont communities.
Geographical and temporal variation of multiple paternity in invasive mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki, Gambusia affinis)
<p>Multiple paternity (MP) increases offspring's genetic variability, which could be linked to invasive species' evolvability in novel distribution ranges. Shifts in MP can be adaptive, with greater MP in harsher/colder environments or towards the end of the reproductive season, but climate could also affect MP indirectly via its effect on reproductive life histories. We tested these hypotheses by genotyping <i>N </i>= 2,903 offspring from <i>N </i>= 306 broods of two closely related livebearing fishes, <i>Gambusia holbrooki</i> and <i>Gambusia affinis</i>. We sampled pregnant females across latitudinal gradients in their invasive ranges in Europe and China, and found more sires per brood and a greater reproductive skew towards northern sampling sites. Moreover, examining monthly sampling from two <i>G. affinis</i> populations, we found MP rates to vary across the reproductive season in a northern Chinese, but not in a southern Chinese population. While our results confirm an increase of MP in harsher/more unpredictable environments, path analysis indicated that, in both cases, the effects of climate are likely to be indirect, mediated by altered life histories. In both species, which rank amongst the 100 most invasive species worldwide, higher MP at the northern edge of their distribution likely increases their invasive potential and favours range expansions, especially in light of the predicted temperature increases due to global climate changes.</p>
Paternal exposure to a common herbicide alters the behavior and serotonergic system of zebrafish offspring
<p>Increasingly, studies are revealing that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can alter animal behavior. Early life exposure to EDCs may permanently alter phenotypes through to adulthood. In addition, the effects of EDCs may not be isolated to a single generation − offspring may indirectly be impacted, via non-genetic processes. <span class="fontstyle01"><span>Here, we analyzed the effects of paternal atrazine exposure on behavioral traits (distance moved, exploration, bottom-dwelling time, latency to enter the top zone, and interaction with a mirror) and whole-brain mRNA of genes involved in the serotonergic system regulation (</span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>slc6a4a</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>, </span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>slc6a4b</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>, </span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>htr1Aa</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>, </span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>htr1B</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>, </span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>htr2B</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>) of zebrafish (</span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>Danio rerio</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>). F0 male zebrafish were exposed to atrazine at 0.3, 3 or 30 part per billion (ppb) during early juvenile development, the behavior of F1 progeny was tested at adulthood, and the effect of 0.3 ppb atrazine treatment on mRNA transcription was quantified. Paternal exposure to atrazine significantly reduced interactions with a mirror (a proxy for aggression) and altered the latency to enter the top zone of a tank in unexposed F1 offspring. Bottom-dwelling time (a proxy for anxiety) also appeared to be somewhat affected, and activity (distance moved) was reduced in the context of aggression. </span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>slc6a4a </i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span>and </span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span><i>htr1Aa</i></span></span><span class="fontstyle01"><span> mRNA transcript levels were found to correlate positively with anxiety levels in controls, but we found that this relationship was disrupted in the 0.3 ppb atrazine treatment group. Overall, paternal atrazine exposure resulted in alterations across a variety of behavioral traits and showed signs of serotonergic system dysregulation, demonstrating intergenerational effects. Further research is needed to explore transgenerational effects on behavior and possible mechanisms underpinning behavioral effects. </span></span></p>
Divorce and extra-pair paternity in the Lundy house sparrows
<p>The question of why socially monogamous females engage in extra-pair behaviour is long-standing in evolutionary biology. Due to a lack of empirical support among passerine birds, recent work has moved away from the indirect-benefits hypothesis to explain extra-pair mating behaviour by females, instead favouring the hypothesis that this is the result of a pleiotropic effect. That is, <span>a trait under strong positive selection in either or both sexes are genetically linked with another, potentially unrelated, trait. For example, genes beneficial to female fecundity (that promote within-pair solicitation of mating from a male partner) might also lead to extra-pair behaviour (by also promoting solicited copulations from extra-pair males). </span>Here, we test two predictions from this hypothesis: We test the prediction that female divorce, measured as the number of social mates within a given year, is linked with (1) the number of extra-pair males engaged by the female and (2) the proportion of the female's offspring that are extra-pair. Our results show that females who divorce their social partner are more likely to produce extra-pair offspring than those who maintain social monogamy, supporting the pleiotropy hypothesis. However, those females did not also have a higher proportion of extra-pair offspring. The number of broods initiated was also positively correlated with the number of extra-pair males that sired a female's offspring, probably through increased opportunity for extra-pair males to sire offspring over a longer breeding season. Our results support the intrasexual pleiotropy hypothesis as a driver of female extra-pair behaviour.</p>
The risk of brood parasitism does not affect levels of extra-pair paternity in a cuckoo host
<p>In socially monogamous bird species, extra-pair paternity is common, but its level varies considerably within and among species. For hosts of brood parasites, the risk of brood parasitism may influence the costs of engaging in extra-pair copulations (e.g., leaving the nest undefended) and the benefits of having extra-pair young (e.g., spreading the risk of nest predation). However, whether brood parasitism risk affects extra-pair behavior in host species has rarely been tested. We investigated whether variation in the risk of brood parasitism affected levels of extra-pair paternity in Daurian redstarts, a socially monogamous passerine. As a common host of the common cuckoo, the redstart is unique in that its first clutch of the year takes place before the arrival of cuckoos. As a consequence, redstarts experience large seasonal variation in cuckoo parasitism risk, with no parasitism in the first egg-laying period and a high risk in the second period. We genotyped 995 nestlings (and unhatched eggs) from 181 broods and found moderate levels of extra-pair paternity, with 34.8% of broods containing at least one extra-pair young and 11.7% of all offspring being sired by an extra-pair male. However, levels of extra-pair paternity did not differ between the first and the second egg-laying period. Also, experimentally simulating parasitism risk during the first egg-laying period by broadcasting cuckoo vocalizations and presenting taxidermic models of cuckoos did not affect levels of extra-pair paternity in redstarts. Our results, therefore, suggest that the risk of brood parasitism does not affect host extra-pair paternity.</p>
Temperature variability is associated with the occurrence of extra-pair paternity in blue tits
<p>In birds, extra-pair paternity (EPP) constitutes an alternative mating strategy, with potentially important fitness consequences for both males and females and their offspring. Several factors have been identified that can influence the occurrence of EPP, but the role of environmental variability has so far received relatively little attention. Using long-term data set from a wild population of blue tit (<em>Cyanistes</em> <em>cearuleus</em>) we assess the importance of ambient temperature in modulating the levels of extra-pair paternity. Here, we show that variability of local thermal conditions affects the occurrence of EPP. Specifically, we found that the probability of EPP increased with increasing variability in ambient temperature experienced by females prior to egg laying. This pattern is consistent with the idea of plastic female responses to unpredictable environmental conditions. Our results suggest that extra-pair mating may represent an adaptive behavioural strategy to compensate for possible negative effects of unpredictable environmental conditions. </p>
Extra-pair paternity enhances the reproductive fitness of urban Chinese blackbird
<p>Urbanization is a human-induced process of rapid habitat change that can affect the reproductive success of animals. The occurrence of extra-partial paternity (EPP) may be sensitive to changes in urban ecological conditions. In this study, the Chinese blackbird (<em>Turdus</em> <em>mandarinus</em>), a common breeding bird in southern Chinese cities, was selected as the focus species to explore the EPP patterns of monogamous birds in developing cities and their relationship. Over four breeding seasons, 316 Chinese blackbird nestlings and 20 adults in both urban and rural areas were monitored and genotyped for 11 microsatellite loci to determine progeny affinity. We confirmed that both the brood size and hatching rate of EPP nests were significantly larger than those of within-pair paternity (WPP) nests. The body mass, beak length, head length, and body length of 12-day age extra-pair offspring (EPO) were significantly greater than those of within-pair offspring (WPO) suggesting important benefits of EPP. However, according to the analyses of nest ecological variables, we concluded that EPP occurs most often in areas with low urbanization levels indicating some constraints for this reproductive strategy in cities. Our findings provide interesting new insights into how this growing human-induced landscape change affects mating behavior in birds, an important aspect of avian ecology and evolution.</p>
Moonlight influence on quality of nestlings of scops owls depends on paternal coloration
<p>The moon might favour the maintenance of colour polymorphism via disruptive selection if the different colour variants performed differently in terms of prey capture under different moonlight levels. Moonlight, however, may affect prey capture as a by side effect of its influence on prey behaviours. Here we combine data of parental provisioning and owlets' quality with one ex-situ study of grasshoppers' activity to test whether Eurasian scops owls (Otus scops) with different plumage colour and their prey are differently affected by moonlight. Food provisioning increased from new- to full-moon. However, the effect of moonlight on owlet mass gain and immune response depended on paternal coloration. On the one hand, body mass gain of nestlings of the greyest fathers increased from nights with new- to full-moon, whereas it did not change with moonlight for the brownest fathers. On the other hand, PHA response of nestlings of the brownest fathers increased with high moonlight levels during the first week of life, whereas it did not change with moonlight levels for the greyest fathers. Grasshoppers were more active at new moon than at full or waning moon. Our study provides supporting evidence that moonlight influences the behaviour of both scops owls and its prey and suggests that fluctuations in environmental conditions can modulate the advantages of morphs. These results are important because they provide a general insight into a little appreciated mechanism for the maintenance of colour polymorphism in natural populations based on the interactive effect of different environmental factors.</p>
Condition dependent seminal fluid gene expression and intergenerational paternal effects on ejaculate quality
<p>1. There is increasing evidence to show that the environment experienced by fathers can have intergenerational paternal effects on the phenotype of offspring. Paternal effects can be mediated by ejaculate traits beyond the genes carried by sperm, for example through methylation of DNA during spermatogenesis, or non-sperm components of the ejaculate such as small RNAs or seminal fluid proteins (sfp).<br> 2. Theory suggests that ejaculate-mediated paternal effects can have important evolutionary consequences, especially if they exhibit condition dependent expression. Here we use the nutritional geometry approach to explore condition dependence in ejaculate traits and intergenerational paternal effects in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus.<br> 3. We fed males one of 24 chemically defined diets that varied in macronutrient concentration and the ratio of protein (P) to carbohydrate (C). We measured paternal expenditure on testes and accessory gland growth, and the expression of three seminal fluid protein genes that are known to impact sperm viability and the survival of embryos to hatching. We also measured the hatching success and reproductive phenotypes of adult offspring.<br> 4. We found linear effects of P and C on testes and accessory gland mass, and linear and correlated effects of P and C on the expression of two sfp genes. Paternal diet had no effect on the survival of embryos to hatching.<br> 5. There were significant intergenerational effects of paternal diet on the viability of sperm produced by sons, but no paternal effects on the expression of sfp genes in sons or fecundity in daughters.<br> 6. Our data suggest that ejaculate quality can have a significant non-genetic component determined by the paternal environment, which holds important implications for the evolutionary maintenance of variation in heritable male fitness.</p>
Local male breeding density affects extra‐pair paternity in a south temperate population of grass wrens Cistothorus platensis
<p>Demographic factors can affect the frequency of extra-pair paternity (EPP) in birds, as the distribution and availability of potential mates in both space and time influence the rate of encounters between females and males. Over three breeding seasons, we intensively studied the breeding system of a south temperate population of grass wrens <i>Cistothorus platensis</i> by genotyping 73 broods (319 nestlings) and estimating EPP rates for those broods. Using five different radii (80, 160, 240, 320, and 400 m) around each nest with assigned paternity, we examined the effects of local breeding synchrony, male breeding density, and adult sex ratio (ASR) on the EPP rate. The majority of extra-pair offspring (~80%) were sired by neighboring males. Neither local breeding synchrony nor ASR consistently explained the EPP rate variation as their effects were only statistically significant within 320 m and 400 m. However, the EPP rate increased as the local male breeding density increased within every radius category, strongly suggesting that neighboring male abundance might play an important role in the extra-pair mating behavior in this species. Our study also highlights the relevance of using a local scale approach when studying mating behavior.</p>
Diverse parentage relationships in paternal mouth-brooders
<p>While mouthbrooding is not an uncommon parental care strategy in fishes, paternal mouthbrooding only occurs in eight fish families and little studied. The high cost of paternal mouthbrooding to the male implies a low risk of investment in another male's offspring but genetic parentage patterns are poorly known for paternal mouthbrooders. Here we used single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genetic data to investigate parentage relationships of broods of two mouthbrooders of northern Australian rivers, mouth almighty <em>Glossamia aprion</em> and blue catfish <em>Neoarius graeffei</em>. For <em>N. graeffei</em>, we found that the parentage pattern was largely monogamous with the brooder male as the sire. For <em>G. aprion</em>, the parentage pattern was more heterogeneous including observations of monogamous broods with the brooder male as the sire (73%), polygyny (13%), cuckoldry (6%) and a brood genetically unrelated to the brooder male (6%). Findings demonstrate the potential for complex interrelationships of male care, paternity confidence, and mating behaviour in mouthbrooding fishes.</p>
Female extra-pair behavior is not associated with reduced paternal care in Thorn-tailed Rayadito
<p>Extra-pair behavior is present in 76% of socially monogamous bird species with biparental care. This behavior may produce costs to females related to a reduction in paternal care. We estimated the percentage of extra-pair offspring and quantified paternal care in 44 nests of Thorn-tailed Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda) to assess whether males reduce their parental care when females obtain extra-pair fertilizations. We used data from a sub-Antarctic population of Rayadito located on Navarino Island (55°4′S, 67°40′W), southern Chile. We found no statistical support for a relationship between variation in paternal care and the percentage of extra-pair offspring. We discuss how the inability of breeding males to assess their genetic paternity and potential restrictions on behavioral flexibility may explain this result. Additionally, if paternal care is subjected to sexual selection, this could limit a facultative response to female extra-pair behavior by males. Finally, it is possible that a reduction in paternal care might not have evolved in this particular locality given the low frequency of extra-pair paternity in our study population.</p>
Evolution of female colors in birds: The role of female cost of reproduction and paternal care
<p><span>Female ornamentation is frequently observed in animal species and is sometimes found as more evolutionarily labile than male ornamentation. A complex array of factors may explain its presence and variation. Here we assessed the role of female cost of reproduction and paternal care. Both factors have been pinpointed as important by theoretical studies but have not been investigated yet in detail at the interspecific level. We worked on 133 species of North temperate Passeriformes bird species for which both the clutch volume – here taken as the proxy of female cost of reproduction – and the amount of paternal care are relatively well known. Using spectrometry, we measured the whole-body colored plumage patches and quantified three metrics corresponding to brightness (i.e. achromatic component), color chromaticity (i.e. intensity), and color volume (i.e. diversity). We found a strong association between male and female color metrics. Controlling for this association, we found additional small but detectable effects of both cost of reproduction and paternal care. First, females of species with more paternal care were slightly brighter. Second, the interaction between the level of paternal care and egg volume was correlated with female color intensity: females with more paternal care tended to be more chromatic, only when their investment in reproduction was low. Together these results suggest that female cost of reproduction and paternal care are part of the multiple factors explaining variation of female coloration, besides the strong covariation between male and female coloration.</span></p>
Data from: Paternal hatching care regulates the timing, synchrony, and success of hatching in a coral reef fish
<p>In oviparous species, the timing of hatching is a crucial decision, but for developing embryos, assessing cues that indicate the optimal time to hatch is challenging. In species with parental care, parents can assess environmental conditions and induce their offspring to hatch. We provide the first documentation of parental hatching regulation in a coral reef fish, demonstrating that male neon gobies (<em>Elacatinus colini</em>) directly regulate hatching by removing embryos from the clutch and spitting hatchlings into the water column. All male gobies synchronized hatching within 2h of sunrise, regardless of when eggs were laid. Paternally-incubated embryos hatched later in development, more synchronously, and had higher hatching success than artificially-incubated embryos that were shaken to simulate paternal hatching cues or not stimulated. Artificially-incubated embryos displayed substantial plasticity in hatching times (range: 88 – 244 hours post-fertilization), suggesting that males could respond to environmental heterogeneity by modifying the hatching time of their offspring. Finally, paternally-incubated embryos hatched with smaller yolk sacs and larger propulsive areas than artificially-incubated embryos, suggesting that paternal effects on hatchling phenotypes may influence larval dispersal and fitness. These findings highlight the complexity of fish parental care and may have important, and currently unstudied, consequences for fish population dynamics.</p>
Data from: Extra-pair paternity correlates with genetic diversity, but not breeding density, in a Neotropical passerine, the Black Catbird
<p>The frequency of extra-pair paternity (EPP) varies widely across socially monogamous birds, but the proximate mechanisms driving this variation remain unclear. In this study, we tested two major factors hypothesized to influence extra-pair mating—breeding density and genetic diversity—by comparing genetic mating patterns in two populations of black catbirds <em>Melanoptila glabrirostris</em>. This Neotropical songbird is endemic to the Yucatán Peninsula, including eastern Mexico, and its offshore islands. We sampled one mainland (Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve) and one island (Isla Cozumel) population and used single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to quantify heterozygosity and genetic parentage over two breeding seasons. Moderate levels of EPP occurred in both populations (9.5 – 35% of offspring and 17 – 45% of nests). Contrary to predictions, breeding density did not affect EPP: although breeding densities were much higher on the mainland than on the island, EPP rates did not differ between populations, and local breeding density was not correlated with EPP at individual nests. In contrast, partial support emerged for the hypothesis that genetic diversity influences EPP: extra-pair offspring were more heterozygous than within-pair offspring. However, the two populations did not differ in genetic diversity, and neither the heterozygosity of social fathers nor within-pair relatedness predicted EPP. These results are consistent with recent comparative studies suggesting that breeding density is not a critical driver of EPP rates, and that not all tropical songbirds exhibit low rates of EPP.</p>
Effects of nest-site availability on male-male competition and the foraging costs associated with paternal care in a resource-defense species
<p><strong>Effects of nest-site availability on male-male competition and associated costs of nest site maintenance and paternal care in a resource-defense species</strong></p> <p>This repository contains the .csv files used for the statistical analyses of the study "Effects of nest-site availability on male-male competition and associated costs of nest site maintenance and paternal care in a resource-defense species". In case of questions, please email Laís A. Grossel: <a href="mailto:laisgrossel@gmail.com">laisgrossel@gmail.com</a></p> <p><strong>Data files and structure</strong></p> <p>We have files for the analysis with field and experimental data.</p> <p>With the file <strong>field.csv</strong> we tested the probability of males obtaining a nest and receiving eggs from females. In this file, we have the headers:</p> <ul> <li><strong>maleID:</strong> identity of males in the field</li> <li><strong>DSW:</strong> dorsal scute width, in mm</li> <li><strong>mass:</strong> to the nearest 0.001 g</li> <li><strong>nest_possession:</strong> with 2 levels: 0 if the male did not possess a nest and 1 if the male possessed a nest</li> <li><strong>nest_opening:</strong> in cm</li> <li><strong>parental_status:</strong> with 3 levels: 0 if the male did not have a nest, 1: if the male had a nest but no eggs, and 2: if the male had a nest and eggs</li> </ul> <p>With the file <strong>experiment_nests.csv</strong> we tested predictions related with the nest possession. In this file, we have the headers:</p> <ul> <li><strong>terrariaID:</strong> identity of the 14 terraria (containing 4 or 8 nests)</li> <li><strong>exp_group:</strong> experimental group, with 2 levels of nests availability: low (4 nests per terraria) and high (8 nests per terraria)</li> <li><strong>nestID:</strong> identity of the nests</li> <li><strong>occupation:</strong> if the nest was once occupied during the experiment, with 2 levels: 0 if it was never occupied and 1 if it was occupied at least once</li> <li><strong>occupied_scans:</strong> number of scans with any male inside the nest</li> <li><strong>vacant_scans:</strong> number of scans without any male inside the nest</li> <li><strong>total_scans:</strong> total number of observation scans </li> <li><strong>owners:</strong> number of different owners of the nest (at least 6 consecutive scans)</li> <li><strong>turnover:</strong> if there was at least a substitution of the nest owner without figths, with 2 levels: 0 if there was not any substitution and 1 if there was a substitution</li> <li><strong>turnovers_number:</strong> number of substitutions of the nest owner without figths</li> <li><strong>takeover:</strong> if there was at least a takeover attempt of the nest after figths, with 2 levels: 0 if there was not any attempt and 1 if there was an attempt</li> <li><strong>takeovers_number:</strong> number of takeover attempts of the nest after figths</li> <li><strong>fight:</strong> if there was at least a figth inside or close to the nest, with 2 levels: 0 if there was not any figth and 1 if there was a figth</li> <li><strong>fights_number:</strong> number of figths inside or close to the nest</li> <li><strong>canibalism:</strong> if there was at least a cannibalism event inside the nest, 2 levels: 0 if there was not any cannibalism event and 1 if there was a cannibalism event</li> <li><strong>canibalism_number:</strong> number of cannibalism events inside the nest</li> </ul> <p>With the file <strong>experiment_males.csv</strong> we tested predictions related to the males owners. In this file, we have the headers:</p> <ul> <li><strong>terrariaID:</strong> identity of the 14 terraria (containing 4 or 8 nests)</li> <li><strong>exp_group:</strong> experimental group, with 2 levels of nests availability: low (4 nests per terraria) and high (8 nests per terraria)</li> <li><strong>maleID:</strong> identitity of the males</li> <li><strong>DSW:</strong> dorsal scute width, in mm</li> <li><strong>nest_possession:</strong> with 2 levels: 0 if the male never possessed a nest during the experiment and 1 if the male possessed a nest at least once (6 consecutive scans)</li> <li><strong>nestID:</strong> identity of the nest possessed by the male</li> <li><strong>inside_scans:</strong> number of scans with the male inside his nest</li> <li><strong>outside_scans:</strong> number of scans with the male outside his nest</li> <li><strong>total_scans:</strong> total number of scans in which the male was the owner of the nest</li> <li><strong>takeover:</strong> if the male suffered a takeover attempt of his nest, with 2 levels: 0 if the male did not suffer any attempt and 1 if the male suffered an attempt</li> <li><strong>eggs:</strong> if the male received eggs from a female, with 2 levels: 0 if the male did not receive eggs and 1 if the male received eggs</li> <li><strong>eggs_number:</strong> number of eggs received </li> <li><strong>cannibalism:</strong> if the owner male cannibalized the eggs inside the nest, 2 levels: 0 if the male did not cannibalize eggs and 1 if the male cannibalized eggs</li> <li><strong>cannibalism_number:</strong> number of cannibalism events by the owner male </li> </ul> <p>With the file <strong>fights-takeovers.csv</strong> we tested predictions related with nest takeovers. In this file, we have the headers:</p> <ul> <li><strong>terrariaID:</strong> identity of the 14 terraria (containing 4 or 8 nests)</li> <li><strong>exp_group:</strong> experimental group, with 2 levels of nests availability: low (4 nests per terraria) and high (8 nests per terraria)</li> <li><strong>nestID:</strong> identity of the nest possessed by the male</li> <li><strong>focalID:</strong> identitity of the focal males (the owner nest)</li> <li><strong>DSW:</strong> dorsal scute width, in mm</li> <li><strong>fight:</strong> if the male was involved in at least a figth, with 2 levels: 0 if the male was not involved in any figth and 1 if the male was involved in a figth</li> <li><strong>takeover:</strong> if the male suffered a takeover attempt of his nest, with 2 levels: 0 if the male did not suffer any attempt and 1 if the male suffered an attempt. Obs: the nest takeover always happens after a fight. If there was a takeover, then there was a fight too.</li> <li><strong>res_focal: </strong>result of the figth or takeover for the focal male, with 2 levels: 0 if the focal male did not lose the figth or the nest and 1 if the focal male lost the figth or the nest</li> <li><strong>intruderID:</strong> identity of the intruder male involved in the figth or the takeover with the owner male</li> <li><strong>intruder_DSL: </strong>dorsal scute width of the intruder male, in mm</li> <li><strong>dyad:</strong> identity of the two individuals involved in the figth or takeover (owner male and intruder male)</li> <li><strong>DSW_difference:</strong> difference between the dorsal scute width of the dyad (focal male minus intruder male)</li> </ul> <p>With the file <strong>foraging.csv</strong> we tested a prediction related with males foraging. In this file, we have the headers:</p> <ul> <li><strong>terrariaID:</strong> identity of the 14 terraria (containing 4 or 8 nests)</li> <li><strong>exp_group:</strong> experimental group, with 2 levels of nests availability: low (4 nests per terraria) and high (8 nests per terraria)</li> <li><strong>nestID:</strong> identity of the nest possessed by the male</li> <li><strong>maleID:</strong> identitity of the males</li> <li><strong>parental_status:</strong> with 2 levels: 0 if the male did not have eggs in the nest and 1: if the male had eggs</li> <li><strong>inside_scans:</strong> number of scans with the male inside his nest</li> <li><strong>outside_scans:</strong> number of scans with the male outside his nest</li> <li><strong>total_scans:</strong> total number of scans in which the male was the owner of the nest</li> </ul>
Data from: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Effects of paternal age at conception on fathers and sons
<p>Advancing male age is often hypothesised to reduce both, male fertility and offspring quality due to reproductive senescence. However, the effects of advancing male age on reproductive output and offspring quality are not always deleterious. For example, older fathers might buffer effects of reproductive senescence by terminally investing in reproduction. Similarly, males that survive to reproduce at an old age, might carry alleles that confer high viability (viability selection) which are then inherited by offspring, or might have high reproductive potential (selective disappearance). Differentiating these mechanisms requires an integrated experimental study of paternal survival and reproductive performance, as well as offspring quality, which is currently lacking. Using a cross-sectional study in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em>, we test the effects of paternal age at conception (PAC) on paternal survival and reproductive success, and on the lifespans of sons. We discover that mating at an old age is linked with decreased future male survival, suggesting that mating-induced mortality is possibly due to old fathers being frail. We find no evidence for terminal investment, and show that reproductive senescence in fathers does not onset until their late-adult life. Additionally, we find that as a father's lifespan increases, his probability of siring offspring increases, for older PAC treatments only. Lastly, we show that sons born to older fathers live longer than those born to younger fathers, due to viability selection. Collectively, our results suggest that advancing paternal age is not necessarily associated with deleterious effects for offspring, and may even lead to older fathers producing longer-lived offspring.</p>
Paternal Effects 2018
<p>Dataset for manuscript " Early life of fathers affects offspring fitness in a wild rodent " (van Cann et al., 2019; Journal of Evolutionary Biology)</p> <p> </p>
Female Assamese macaques bias their affiliation to paternal and maternal kin
<p>Forming strong social bonds can lead to higher reproductive success, increased longevity and/or increased infant survival in several mammal species. Given these adaptive benefits, understanding what determines partner preferences in social bonding is important. Maternal relatedness strongly predicts partner preference across many mammalian taxa. The role of paternal relatedness, however, has received relatively little attention, even though paternal and maternal kin share the same number of genes, and theoretically similar preferences would therefore be expected for paternal kin. Here, we investigate the role of maternal and paternal relatedness in female affiliation in Assamese macaques (<i>Macaca assamensis</i>), a species characterized by a relatively low male reproductive skew. We studied a wild population under natural conditions using extensive behavioral data and relatedness analyses based on pedigree reconstruction. We found stronger affiliative relationships and more time spent grooming between maternal kin and paternal half-sisters compared to non-kin, with no preference of maternal over paternal kin. Paternally related and non-related dyads did not form stronger relationships when they had less close maternal kin available, but we would need a bigger sample size to confirm this. As expected given the low reproductive skew, affiliative relationships between paternal half-sisters closer in age were not stronger than between paternal half-sisters with larger age differences, suggesting that the kin bias towards paternal kin was not mediated by age similarity. An alternative way through which paternal kin could get familiarized is mother- and/or father-mediated familiarity.</p>
Data for: Paternity sharing in insects with female competition for nuptial gifts
<p>Male parental investment is expected to be associated with high confidence of paternity. Studies of species with exclusive male parental care have provided support for this hypothesis because mating typically co-occurs with each oviposition, allowing control over paternity and the allocation of care. However, in systems where males invest by feeding mates (typically arthropods) mating (and thus the investment) is separated from egg-laying, resulting in less control over insemination (as male ejaculates compete with rival sperm stored by females) and a greater risk of investing in unrelated offspring (cuckoldry). As strong selection on males to increase paternity would compromise the fitness of all a female's other mates that make costly nutrient contributions, paternity sharing (males not excluded from siring offspring) is an expected outcome of sperm competition. Using wild-caught females in an orthopteran and a dipteran species, in which sexually selected, ornamented females compete for male nuptial food gifts needed for successful reproduction, we examined paternity patterns and compared them to findings in other insects. We used microsatellite analysis of offspring (lifetime reproduction in the orthopteran) and stored sperm from wild-caught females in both study species, and as predicted there was evidence of shared paternity as few males failed to sire offspring. Further support for paternity-sharing is the lack of last-male sperm precedence in our study species. Although paternity was not equal among sires, our estimates of paternity bias were similar to other insects with valuable nuptial gifts and contrasted with the finding that males are frequently excluded from siring offspring in species where males supply little more than sperm. This suggests paternity bias may be reduced in nuptial-gift systems and may help facilitate the evolution of these paternal investments.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
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