Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
26
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
26 results for “extra-pair mating”
Female and male plumage colour is linked to parental quality, pairing and extra-pair mating in a tropical passerine
<p>Sexual selection has been proposed to drive the evolution of elaborate phenotypic traits in males, which often confer success in competition or mating. However, in many species both males and females display such traits, although studies investigating selection acting in both sexes are scarce. In this study, we investigated whether plumage ornamentation is sexually selected in female and male lovely fairy-wrens <em>Malurus amabilis</em>, a cooperatively breeding songbird. We found that female and male plumage colour was correlated with parental quality but not with individual quality and survival. We also found evidence of positive assortative mating based on plumage colour. Microsatellite analyses of paternity indicated that the lovely fairy-wren has high levels of extra-pair paternity, with 53% of offspring (in 58% of broods, of 57% of females) resulting from extra-pair mating. Female and male plumage colour did not predict reproductive success or the proportion of extra-pair offspring in their own nest, but less colourful males obtained higher extra-pair paternity when paired with more colourful females, and gained overall higher total paternity (own nest and other nests). We argue that plumage colour may be under sex-specific selection, highlighting the importance of looking at both sexes in studies of sexual selection and ornament evolution. The current findings together with previous study, suggest that plumage colour in female and male lovely fairy-wrens appears to be an honest signal relevant in both intra and inter-sexual competition contexts.</p>
Body size is associated with yearling breeding and extra-pair mating in the Island Scrub-Jay
<p>Large body size is an important determinant of individual fitness in many animal species, especially in island systems where habitat saturation may result in strong intraspecific competition for mates and breeding territories. Here we show that large body size is associated with benefits to yearling breeding and extra-pair mating in the Island Scrub-Jay (<i>Aphelocoma insularis</i>), endemic to Santa Cruz Island, California. This species is approximately 20% larger than its mainland congener, consistent with the island syndrome, indicating that body size may be a trait under selection. From 2009 to 2013, we quantified the reproductive success of a marked population of Island Scrub-Jays, tracked which yearlings acquired a breeding territory and bred, and measured the occurrence of extra-pair paternity. Two potential contributors to fitness were positively related to body size. Larger yearling males were more likely to breed, possibly due to greater behavioral dominance during aggressive encounters. Larger males were also less likely to lose paternity to extra-pair males and, anecdotally, extra-pair males were larger than the social male cuckolded. This study provides evidence that larger males may have a fitness advantage over smaller males by breeding earlier and avoiding paternity loss, but estimates of lifetime reproductive success are ultimately needed for Island Scrub-Jays and other long-lived species.</p>
Data for: Patterns of extra-territorial nestbox visits in a songbird suggest a role in extra-pair mating
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>Many animals make visits outside of their territory during the breeding period, but these are typically infrequent and difficult to observe. As a consequence, comprehensive data on extra-territorial movements at the population-level are scarce and the function of this behavior remains poorly understood. Using an automated nestbox visit tracking system in a wild blue tit population over six breeding seasons, we recorded all extra-territorial nestbox visits (n=22137) related to 1195 individual breeding attempts (761 unique individuals). Sixty-two percent of breeders made at least one extra-territorial visit between the onset of nest building and the day of fledging of their offspring, and individuals visited another nestbox on average on 11% of the days during this period. Visit behavior differed clearly between the sexes, with males making over three times as many extra-territorial forays as females. There was a strong overall seasonal decline in visit behavior, but this was sex dependent, with females showing a strong reduction in the number of extra-territorial visits before the onset of egg laying and males showing a strong and sudden reduction on the day their offspring hatched. The likelihood of visiting a particular nestbox declined sharply with the distance to that box, and blue tits almost exclusively visited direct neighbors. Individuals were more likely to have extra-pair offspring with an individual whose box they visited, but they were not more likely to disperse to a box they had visited. Thus, our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that extra-territorial nestbox visits serve to inform dispersal decisions, but suggest that such visits are linked to extra-pair mating opportunities.</span></p>
Multiple and extra-pair mating in a pair-living hermaphrodite, the intertidal limpet Siphonaria gigas
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Genetic analysis provides insight into the mating system of <em>Meleagris gallopavo</em> (wild turkey) and reveals frequent extra-pair paternity
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Body size is associated with yearling breeding and extra-pair mating in the Island Scrub-Jay
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Female and male plumage colour is linked to parental quality, pairing and extra-pair mating in a tropical passerine
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data for: Patterns of extra-territorial nestbox visits in a songbird suggest a role in extra-pair mating
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data for: Mobbing for matings: dynamics, plumage correlates, and fitness impacts of conspicuous group extra-pair behaviors in the lark bunting
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Extra-pair mating in a passerine bird with highly duplicated MHC class II: Preference for the golden mean
Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are essential in vertebrate adaptive immunity, and they are highly diverse and duplicated in many lineages. While it is widely established that pathogen-mediated selection maintains MHC diversity through balancing selection, the role of mate choice in shaping MHC diversity is debated. Here, we investigate female mating preferences for MHC class II (MHCII) in the bluethroat (<i></i>Luscinia svecica<i></i>), a passerine bird with high levels of extra-pair paternity and extremely duplicated MHCII. We genotyped family samples with mixed paternity and categorized their MHCII alleles according to their functional properties in peptide binding. Our results strongly indicate that females select extra-pair males in a non-random, self-matching manner that provides offspring with an allelic repertoire size closer to the population mean, as compared to offspring sired by the social male. This is consistent with a "compatible genes" model for extra-pair mate choice where the optimal allelic diversity is intermediate, not maximal. This "golden mean" presumably reflects a trade-off between maximizing pathogen recognition benefits and minimizing autoimmunity costs. Our study exemplifies how mate choice can reduce the population variance in individual MHC diversity and exert strong stabilizing selection on the trait. It also supports the hypothesis that extra-pair mating is adaptive through enhanced genetic quality of offspring.
Data from: High fidelity: extra-pair fertilisations in eight Charadrius plover species are not associated with parental relatedness or social mating system
Extra-pair paternity is a common reproductive strategy in many bird species. However, it remains unclear why extra-pair paternity occurs and why it varies among species and populations. Plovers (Charadrius spp.) exhibit considerable variation in reproductive behaviour and ecology, making them excellent models to investigate the evolution of social and genetic mating systems. We investigated inter- and intra-specific patterns of extra-pair parentage and evaluated three major hypotheses explaining extra-pair paternity using a comparative approach based on the microsatellite genotypes of 2,049 individuals from 510 plover families sampled from twelve populations that constituted eight species. Extra-pair paternity rates were very low (0 to 4.1% of chicks per population). No evidence was found in support of the sexual conflict or genetic compatibility hypotheses, and there was no seasonal pattern of extra-pair paternity (EPP). The low prevalence of EPP is consistent with a number of alternative hypotheses, including the parental investment hypothesis, which suggests that high contribution to care by males restricts female plovers from engaging in extra-pair copulations. Further studies are needed to critically test the importance of this hypothesis to plover mate choice.
Data from: Extra-pair mating in a socially monogamous and paternal mouthbrooding cardinalfish
Many vertebrates form monogamous pairs to mate and care for their offspring. However, genetic tools have increasingly shown that many offspring arise from matings outside of the monogamous pair bond. Social monogamy is relatively common in coral reef fishes, but there have been relatively few studies that have confirmed monogamy or extra-pair reproduction, either for males or females. Here long-term observations and genetic tools were applied to examine the parentage of embryos in a paternally mouthbrooding cardinalfish, Sphaeramia nematoptera. Paternal care in fishes, such as mouth brooding, is thought to be associated with a high degree of confidence in paternity. Two-years of observations confirmed that S. nematoptera form long-term pair bonds within larger groups. However, genetic parentage revealed extra-pair mating by both sexes. Of 105 broods analysed from 64 males, 30.1% were mothered by a female that was not the partner and 11.5% of broods included eggs from two females. Despite the high paternal investment associated with mouthbrooding, 7.5% of broods were fertilised by two males. Extra-pair matings appeared to be opportunistic encounters with individuals from outside the immediate group. We argue that while pair formation contributes to group cohesion, both males and females can maximise lifetime reproductive success by taking advantage of extra-pair mating opportunities. The results contradict the theory that paternal care is associated with a high confidence in paternity.
Data from: Extra-pair mating opportunities mediate parenting and mating effort trade-offs in a songbird
<p>In socially monogamous species with bi-parental care, males may face a trade-off between providing parental care and pursuing extra-pair matings. The "parenting-mating trade-off" hypothesis predicts that high-quality males – who have greater potential to gain extra-pair matings, e.g. larger males usually win the competition for extra-pair mating – should reduce parental care and spend more time looking for extra-pair matings. However, the trade-off between parenting and mating efforts may be complicated by variation in the availability of extra-pair mating opportunities. By using field data of hair-crested drongos (<i>Dicrurus hottentottus</i>), a species exhibiting bi-parental incubation behavior, collected in central China from 2010 to 2017, we tested whether the potential negative relationship between male quality and paternal care was dependent on the number of nearby fertile females. We found that male drongos mainly seek extra-pair matings during the incubation period and high-quality individuals (males with longer tarsi) are more likely to sire extra-pair offspring. In agreement with the "parenting-mating trade-off" hypothesis, high-quality males incubated less by recessing longer between incubation bouts. However, this was only the case when sufficient fertile females nearby for extra-pair mating opportunities. Females compensated for reduced male care, but this was independent of male quality. This suggests that the reduction in care by high-quality males might be a direct response to extra-pair mating opportunities rather than facilitated by differential allocation of females. Our results indicate that individual quality and available mating opportunities may shape the optimal trade-off between parental care and seeking additional matings for males.</p>
The evolutionary genetics of paternal care: how good genes and extra-pair copulation affect the trade-off between paternal care and mating success
<p>We investigate the evolution of a gene for paternal care, with pleiotropic effects on male mating fitness and offspring viability, with and without extra pair copulations (EPCs). We develop a population genetic model to examine how pleiotropic effects of a male mating advantage and paternal care are affected by 'good genes' and EPCs. Using this approach, we show that the relative effects of each on fitness do not always predict the evolutionary change. We then find the line of combinations of mating success and paternal care that bisects the plane of possible values into regions of positive or negative gene frequency change. This line shifts when either good genes or EPCs are introduced, thereby expanding or contracting the region of positive gene frequency change and significantly affecting the evolution of paternal care. Predictably, a direct viability effect of 'good genes' that enhances offspring viability constrains or expands the parameter space over which paternal care can evolve, depending on whether the viability effect is associated with the paternal care allele or not. In either case, the effect of a 'good gene' that enhances offspring viability is substantial; when strong enough, it can even facilitate the evolution of <i>poor</i>paternal care, where males harm their young. When non-random mating is followed by random EPCs, the genetic regression between sire and offspring is reduced and, consequently, the relative strengths of selection are skewed away from paternal care and toward the male mating advantage. However, when random mating is followed by non-random EPCs, a situation called "trading up" by females, we show that selection is skewed in the opposite direction, away from male mating advantage and toward paternal care across the natural range of EPC frequencies.</p>
Female differential allocation in response to extra-pair offspring and social mate attractiveness
<p>Renewed debate over what benefits females might gain from producing extra-pair offspring emphasizes the possibility that apparent differences in quality between within-pair and extra-pair offspring are confounded by greater maternal investment in extra-pair offspring. Moreover, the attractiveness of a female's social mate can also influence contributions of both partners to a reproductive attempt. Here we explore the complexities involved in parental investment decisions in response to extra-pair offspring and mate attractiveness with a focus on the female point of view. Adult zebra finches paired and reproduced in a colony setting. A male's early-life diet quality and his extra-pair reproductive success were used as metrics of his mating attractiveness. Females paired with males that achieved extra-pair success laid heavier eggs than other females and spent less time attending their nests than their mates or other females. Extra-pair nestlings were fed more protein-rich hen's egg than within-pair nestlings. Females producing extra-pair offspring had more surviving sons than females producing only within-pair offspring. Collectively, results show that females differentially allocate resources in response to offspring extra-pair status and their social mate's attractiveness. Females may also obtain fitness benefits through the production of extra-pair offspring.</p>
Data from: Social and extra-pair mating in relation to MHC variation in common yellowthroats
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Extra-pair mating in a socially monogamous and paternal mouthbrooding cardinalfish
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Extra-pair mating in a passerine bird with highly duplicated MHC class II: Preference for the golden mean
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Female differential allocation in response to extra-pair offspring and social mate attractiveness
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: Extra-pair mating opportunities mediate parenting and mating effort trade-offs in a songbird
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
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
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.