DOCSLIB.ORG

Mate Guarding As a Key Factor in the Evolution of Parental Care in Birds

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mate Guarding As a Key Factor in the Evolution of Parental Care in Birds Anim. Behav., 1991, 41,963 970 Mate guarding as a key factor in the evolution of parental care in birds JOHAN G. VAN RHIJN* Zoological Laboratory, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands and Department of Sciences, Open University, P.O. Box 2960, 6401 DL Heerlen, The Netherlands (Received 26 March 1990; initial acceptance 24 April 1990; final acceptance 18 October 1990; MS. number: 3553) Abstract. The evolution of male parental care in vertebrates with internal fertilization must have been preceded by a stage in which males profit by staying with the female after copulation. This paper discusses the results of a series of computer simulations to determine the pay-off to post-copulatory mate guarding under various conditions. Guarding is promoted by asynchrony in fertility of the females, high copulation frequencies of females, preference of females for males using the guarding strategy, and mate fidelity of guarded females. Moreover, it is demonstrated that, under several conditions, apparently those operating in a natural environment, the success of the guarding strategy is inversely related to its frequency in the population. This implies that both the guarding and the non-guarding strategy can be maintained in the same population. This phenomenon is put forward as a key factor determining the pathways in the evolution of parental care. The origin of parental care in birds was probably Smith 1977). Another obstacle to the sudden closely related to the acquisition of body tempera- appearance of biparental care is the slow rate of ture regulation, because this could also require change in the course of evolution in the need for regulation of egg temperature. Parental care must parental care by the offspring. It is therefore diffi- have been preceded by a stage without prolonged cult to imagine how the aid of a second parent care after egg laying and could be established as would further increase the number of surviving off- soon as individuals succeeded in rearing more sur- spring in species evolving from a stage without viving offspring by incubation or other care, than parental care. Their young may still be adapted to simply by leaving the eggs to their fate. Parental survive without care at all. Evidence for evolution care might have originated in three alternative of biparental care via a stage of care by one parent ways. has also been presented by Gittleman (1981) by First, both parents, female and male, could have pedigree analysis for fish. Thus, the idea of a direct evolved the ability to care for their offspring. There transition, from a stage without parental care to a are two reasons why such transition from no care at stage with biparental care, does not seem to be very all to biparental care cannot simply be rejected: realistic. (1) males and females possess almost the same set of Second, the female could have evolved the ability genes, and thus are almost equally affected by to care for her offspring. This possibility seems to be natural selection for parental care, and (2) continu- rather plausible because the female lays the eggs. ous regulation of egg temperature is not very easy The evolution of prolonged care of the eggs by the for one parent, especially as foraging for its own female requires, as a matter of course, that a new needs takes a lot of time. However, there is at least (mutant) type of female, who performs some care, one very important hindrance to the evolution of arises in the population. It also requires that this biparental care in species with internal fertilization investment results in more surviving offspring than (reptiles, birds and mammals): females and males the same investment in prolonged laying or the experience quite different circumstances at the time same investment in extra reserves for the eggs. If of egg laying. Mothers are necessarily present when these conditions are fulfilled, natural selection the eggs are laid, but fathers are not (Maynard should, after a number of generations, result in all *Address for correspondence: Slochterweg, 3, 9635 TA females having the ability to care for their off- Noordbroek, The Netherlands. spring. Thus, the idea of a transition from a stage 0003 3472/91/060963+ 08 $03.00/0 1991 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour 963 964 Animal Behaviour , 41, 6 without parental care to a stage with parental care The cost and benefits of guarding for an individ- by the female seems to be associated with simple ual are closely related to the frequency of guarding conditions. However, in birds the female allocates in the population (van Rhijn 1984). If the guard- considerable reproductive effort in the formation of ing strategy is rare, implying that the majority of eggs. It has been argued that this effort was even males try to copulate with any female, the benefits greater in the common ancestor of birds, probably of guarding are high, because many copulation before it performed any prolonged parental care attempts by other males can be prevented. The (Elzanowski 1985). It is reasonable to suggest that costs, however, are also high, because the guarding extra investment in care after laying necessarily male has to refrain from many copulation oppor- leads to lower investment in reserves before laying, tunities with other females. If, however, guarding is and possibly to fewer surviving offspring. This common, it may be difficult for a male to find an could have been an obstacle in the evolution of par- unguarded female. This implies that the costs of ental care by the female, which possibly facilitated guarding are comparatively low: the time needed to the evolution of male parental care. find a female is long in comparison with the time Thus, third, the male could have evolved the needed for guarding. It also implies that the ben- ability to care for his offspring. This possibility efits of guarding are low: the probability of an might have occurred if there was any other reason unguarded female copulating for a second time is for the male to stay after copulation with the much lower than in the situation with mainly non- female, at least until egg laying. There seems to be at guarding males. This could mean that both guard- least one situation in which it is advantageous to the ing and non-guarding strategies can be maintained male to stay with the female. If females tend to in the same population as a mixed evolutionarily Copulate with many different males for the same stable strategy (ESS; e.g. Maynard Smith 1982). clutch of eggs, and if males are able to keep other Earlier theoretical work, however, suggests that males away from females, the reproductive success precopulatory mate guarding, a kind of guarding of a male may increase when he guards females after promoting future access to receptive females, insemination until egg laying. Such a male would evolves only as a pure ESS (Grafen & Ridley 1983; ensure that his inseminations fertilize the eggs. This Ridley 1983). This should occur if females permit is, in fact, the beginning of a monogamous pair- males to copulate for a very short period of their bond. The establishment of such a bond may be the reproductive cycle, provided that males are able basis for the evolution of male parental care. to judge the female's reproductive state. In con- trast, models of post-copulatory mate guarding MATE GUARDING (Yamamura 1986; Yamamura & Tsuji 1989), pri- marily developed for insects, suggest that guard- The possibilityof the evolution of male parental care ing and non-guarding strategists may coexist in depends on the benefits and costs of post-copulatory the same population. The differences between the mate guarding. The benefits of the guarding strategy outcomes of these models might indicate that may be described as an increase in the efficiency of pre-copulatory and post-copulatory guarding are insemination (e.g. Birkhead et al. 1987). Guarding fundamentally distinct, or instead, that the assump- raises the probability that copulations with a certain tions do not correspond. Clearly, we do not yet female lead to fertilization. However, this strategy understand how mate guarding might have may also incur considerable costs for the male. evolved. In this paper, I use computer simulations During mate guarding a male is less able than non- to study the costs and benefits of post-copulatory guarding males to court other females and, thus, to mate guarding, especially under conditions that copulate with them. This may lead to a lower repro- apply to vertebrates with internal fertilization of ductive success than for non-guarding males. The eggs. costs of the guarding strategy may thus be described as a decrease in the number of females who can be PROCEDURES inseminated. In cases where the benefits outweigh the costs, natural selection should promote the My experimental subjects belonged to a hypotheti- evolution of guarding. Where costs exceed benefits, cal species without parental care. Two different natural selection should not promote mate types of male mating strategies could occur in this guarding. species: mate guarding and non-guarding. Males van Rhijn: Guarding and evolution of parental care 965 with the least complex non-guarding strategy population. All simulation programs were run on started to court females (searching) to test whether an IBM compatible personal computer, using they were willing to copulate, copulated as soon as Turbo Pascal as the programming language. they found a receptive female, and, subsequently, I use the following terminology in this paper. continued to search. Males with the more complex Males with the non-guarding strategy are 'non- guarding strategy also started to search and court guarders' (NG), and males with the guarding strat- to test whether a female was willing to copulate, egy 'guarders' (G).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Social Relationships in a Small Habitat-Dependent Coral Reef Fish: an Ecological, Behavioural and Genetic Analysis
    ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Rueger, Theresa (2016) Social relationships in a small habitat-dependent coral reef fish: an ecological, behavioural and genetic analysis. PhD thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/46690/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/46690/ Social relationships in a small habitat- dependent coral reef fish: an ecological, behavioural and genetic analysis Thesis submitted by Theresa Rueger, March 2016 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy College of Marine and Environmental Science & ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Declaration of Ethics This research presented and reported in this thesis was conducted in compliance with the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australian Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes, 7th Edition, 2004 and the Qld Animal Care and Protection Act, 2001. The proposed research study received animal ethics approval from the JCU Animal Ethics Committee Approval Number #A1847. Signature ___31/3/2016___ Date i Acknowledgement This thesis was no one-woman show. There is a huge number of people who contributed, directly or indirectly, to its existence. I had amazing support during my field work, by fellow students and good friends Tiffany Sih, James White, Patrick Smallhorn-West, and Mariana Alvarez-Noriega.
    [Show full text]
  • Life History and Environmental Influences on Avian Incubation and Parental Care in Songbirds
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Suzanne H. Austin-Bythell for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Wildlife Science presented on March 5, 2013. Title: Life History and Environmental Influences on Avian Incubation and Parental Care in Songbirds Abstract approved: __________________________________________________________________ William Douglas Robinson Patterns of nest attendance behavior by breeding birds represent a parent-offspring trade-off in which adults balance self-maintenance with parental care decisions. Incubation, in particular, is of interest because adults must provide an environment suitable for embryonic development through nest-building and contact-incubation. We evaluated how adult incubation constancy and nest visitation rates varied with life and natural history traits of temperate and tropical bird species. We found that constancy did not differ by latitude or with nest survival rate. A strong negative correlation between incubation constancy and egg mass relative to adult body mass was present. Birds with low constancy tended to have larger relative egg masses and higher basal metabolic rate. Because adult incubation constancy is relatively plastic (i.e., varies with ambient temperature), birds with larger relative eggs may respond to lower cooling rates rather than direct selection for higher or lower constancy. We then assessed if rates of nest visitation (trips to nests by adults during incubation and nestling phases) followed the predictions of the Skutch hypothesis. Skutch suggested that birds nesting in environments with high levels of nest predation would reduce numbers of trips to their nests so as to minimize the risk of visual detection by nest predators. We found support for the basic pattern predicted by Skutch.
    [Show full text]
  • Phylogenetical Constraints in the Evolution of Parental Care Strategies in Birds
    PHYLOGENETICAL CONSTRAINTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF PARENTAL CARE STRATEGIES IN BIRDS by JOHAN VANRHIJN (Departmentof Zoology,Groningen University, Postbus 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands) SUMMARY In species with internal fertilization, but without parental care, an evolution of 'mater- nal care' is fundamentally different from an evolution of 'paternal care'. Maternal care should be a pure EES.Paternal care should always be superimposed on a mixed ESSto stay (or not to stay) and to establish some kind of a pair-bond with the female from copulation until egg-laying. This implies that paternal care is less reliable than maternal care. This could have led to the evolution of female strategies and properties which raise the chances for male care. The above considerations offer a framework for the evolutionary pathways between the various parental care strategies and between their associated mating systems. Both paternal and maternal care might directly evolve towards biparental care. For the evolution from paternal towards biparental care it is more likely, however, that a tran- sitional stage of 'uniparental care' will be passed. That stage is characterized by pater- nal care in most cases, but by maternal care if the male deserts. It is probable that the biparental care system with similar roles for both sexes evolved along this route. Since such similar role systems are widely distributed among birds, and since monogamous paternal care systems can easily evolve towards all recent mating systems in birds, it is advocated that the evolution of parental care in birds was primarily based on a monogamous paternal care system. INTRODUCTION Recent theories on the evolution of avian mating systems emphasize the role of ecological variables (SELANDER, 1965; LACK, 1968; ORIANS, 1969; JENNI, 1974; EMLEN & ORING, 1977; GRAUL Bl al., 1977; WIT- TENBERGER, 1979; ORING, 1982).
    [Show full text]
  • Maternal Care and Interactions Within and Between Families: How the Environment and Chemical Communication Shape Family Life in a Social Insect
    Maternal care and interactions within and between families: How the environment and chemical communication shape family life in a social insect Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Würde eines Doktors der Philosophie vorgelegt der Philosophisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Basel von Janine Wong aus Stuttgart, Deutschland Basel, 2014 Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät auf Antrag von Fakultätsverantwortlicher: Prof. Dr. Mathias Kölliker, Assistant Professor SNF, Universität Basel Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Mathias Kölliker, Assistant Professor SNF, Universität Basel Korreferentin: Prof. Dr. Rebecca Kilner, Universität Cambridge, UK Basel, den 15.10.2013 Prof. Dr. Jörg Schibler, Dekan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank all the people who were involved with my work and the accomplishment of this thesis in one way or another. First of all, I need to thank my supervisor Mathias Kölliker. Doing a PhD in your group was among the most valuable experiences I ever made. You always knew how to encourage me to go to the next level. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your positive attitude with me, and for always having your door open for questions and discussions. You always gave me the feeling that my work is much appreciated. Major thanks go to my friend Joël Meunier. I consider myself lucky to have had the chance to learn from you! You never lost your patience with my endless row of questions, even after moving to Mainz. A big part of this thesis is your contribution. I will always admire your passion for science! Thanks to all current and former members of the Earwig Group for discussions, great team work in the lab, and story telling in the office.
    [Show full text]
  • Parental Care in Relation to Offspring Sex and Mate Attractiveness in the Blue Tit
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Groningen Digital Archive Parental care in relation to offspring sex and mate attractiveness in the Blue Tit 1 2 RIJKSUNIVERSITEIT GRONINGEN Parental care in relation to offspring sex and mate attractiveness in the Blue Tit Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat in de Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de Rector Magnificus, dr. F. Zwarts, in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 27 Maart 2009 om 13:15 uur door Tobias Limbourg geboren op 4 februari 1972 te Mainz 3 Promotor: Prof. Dr. M. E. Visser Prof. Dr. S. Daan Copromotor : Dr. C. M. Lessells Beoordelingscommissie : Prof. Dr. J. M. Tinbergen Prof. Dr. J. J. M. van Alphen Prof. Dr. F. J. Weissing 4 5 The research presented in this thesis was carried out at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO‐KNAW), Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 40, 6666 ZG Heteren, The Netherlands. Cover photograph by Luc Viatour ¢ GFDL / CC (www.lucnix.be). Printed by Ponsen & Looijen BV, Wageningen, The Netherlands ISBN 978‐90‐367‐3727‐2 6 Table of Contents Chapter 1: General Introduction Chapter 2: Yearly variation in patterns of sex‐biased parental care in blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus Chapter 3: Opposite correlations between male and female investment and mate’s UV coloration in blue tits Chapter 4: Effectiveness of a commonly‐used technique for experimentally reducing plumage UV reflectance Chapter 5: Female blue tits adjust parental effort to manipulated male UV attractiveness Chapter 6: Male blue tits increase parental effort when female UV coloration is reduced Chapter 7: Summarizing Discussion Appendix: References Samenvatting Acknowledgments Addresses of co‐authors 7 ____________CHAPTER 1____________ General Introduction Tobias Limbourg 8 ___________________________________________________________________________General Introduction Background Parental investment is of major importance when it comes to enhancing offspring fitness.
    [Show full text]
  • Patterns of Parental Care in Vertebrates
    978–0–19–969257–6 04-Royle-c04-drv Royle-et-al (Typeset by SPi, Chennai) 62 of 347 March 31, 2012 14:59 OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – REVISES, 31/3/2012, SPi CHAPTER 4 Patterns of parental care in vertebrates Sigal Balshine 4.1 Introduction reproductive success. However, parental care also has three potential costs: 1) a decrease in parental Understanding parental care behaviour has survival, 2) decreased growth and associated fecun- remained a core research area in evolutionary dity reduction, and 3) fewer remating opportu- behavioural ecology. Why the fascination with nities (Gross and Sargent 1985). Scientists have parental behaviour? Many human cultures have used these costs and benefits to better understand a strong focus on children and parenting and our when care will evolve and which sex will provide extensive and prolonged care for our own young care (Maynard-Smith 1977; Balshine-Earn and Earn undoubtedly contributes to our fascination with 1997; Houston et al. 2005). Vertebrate groups that parental care in other animals. Also by studying show great variation in care types, like teleost fishes parental care, behavioural scientists can gain a and shorebirds, have been particular useful models useful window on the social dynamics of family in the search for a better understanding of the evo- groups, providing insights on sexual conflict lution of parental behaviour. (Chapter 9), parent–offspring conflict (Chapter 7), Since Clutton-Brock (1991) published his ency- sibling rivalry (Chapter 8), and kin-mediated clopedic bible on parental care, two new tech- cooperation (Emlen 1994, 1997). The strong link nological advances (both molecular) have helped between parental effort and mating effort (and to further invigorate parental care research.
    [Show full text]
  • Alloparental Care in Fishes
    Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 9: 45–70, 1999. 45 © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Alloparental care in fishes BrianD.Wisenden Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E9; Current address: Department of Biology, Moorhead State University, Moorhead, MN 56563, USA (E-mail: [email protected]) Accepted 29 October 1998 Contents Abstract page 45 Introduction 46 Terminology 46 Alloparental care of eggs 47 Sperm dumping Egg dumping Zygote dumping Nest take-overs Zygote stealing Alloparental care of free-swimming young 52 Extension of alloparental care of eggs Independent offspring inclusion Young dumping (farming out) Kidnapping Brood amalgamation Philopatric offspring Evolution of alloparental care in fishes: low cost, high benefits 56 Acquisition of mates Confusion effect Dilution effect Selfish herd effect Selfish shepherd effect Kin selection Reciprocal altruism (pay to stay) Alloparenting as misdirected parental care 62 Synthesis and future directions for research 62 Acknowledgements 65 Appendix 65 References 66 Abstract Alloparental care, care directed at non-descendant young, presents a potential challenge to evolutionary ecologists because investment in non-descendant eggs and young gives the appearance of maladaptive behaviour. Yet wherever there is parental care in fishes, there is usually alloparental care. As such, alloparental care is an integral part of care in fishes. Alloparental care appears to have arisen independently many times in disparate taxa. The chief reason for this is the low cost of care, relative to homeotherms, both in terms of low post-zygotic investment to nourish young, and low risk of predation to the parent during brood defence.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolutionary Transitions in Parental Care and Live Bearing in Vertebrates
    Published online 19 March 2002 Evolutionary transitions in parental care and live bearing in vertebrates John D. Reynolds1*, Nicholas B. Goodwin1 and Robert P. Freckleton2 1School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK 2Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK We provide the rst review of phylogenetic transitions in parental care and live bearing for a wide variety of vertebrates. This includes new analyses of both numbers of transitions and transition probabilities. These reveal numerous transitions by shorebirds and anurans toward uniparental care by either sex. Whereas most or all of the shorebird transitions were from biparental care, nearly all of the anuran tran- sitions have been from no care, re ecting the prevalence of each form of care in basal lineages in each group. Teleost (bony) shes are similar to anurans in displaying numerous transitions toward uniparental contributions by each sex. Whereas cichlid shes have often evolved from biparental care to female care, other teleosts have usually switched from no care to male care. Taxa that have evolved exclusive male care without courtship-role reversal are characterized by male territoriality and low costs of care per brood. Males may therefore bene t from care through female preference of parental ability in these species. Primates show a high frequency of transitions from female care to biparental care, re ecting the prevalence of female care in basal lineages. In the numerous taxa that display live bearing by females, including teleosts, elasmobranchs, squamate reptiles and invertebrates, we nd that live bearing has always evolved from a lack of care.
    [Show full text]
  • Maternal Behaviour and the Evolution of Chemical Signalling by Offspring in the European Earwig (Forficula Auricularia)
    MATERNAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE EVOLUTION OF CHEMICAL SIGNALLING BY OFFSPRING IN THE EUROPEAN EARWIG (FORFICULA AURICULARIA) Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Würde eines Doktors der Philisophie vorgelegt der Philosophish-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät Der Universität Basel von Flore Mas aus Chevreuse, France Basel, 2011 i Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät auf Antrag von Fakultätsverantwortlicher: Ass. Prof. Dr. Mathias Kölliker, Basel Betreuer: Ass. Prof. Dr. Mathias Kölliker, University of Basel Externer Referent: Prof. Dr. Jeremy McNeil, University of Western Ontario Canada Basel, den 27 April 2010 Prof. Eberhard Parlow, Dekan ii Some words… An individual that could exploit another and does not do so is an altruist, from Trivers 1971, cited by Zahavi 2007. Quand, dans un Etat, vous ne percevez le bruit d'aucun conflit, vous pouvez être sûr que la liberté n'y est plus. Citations de Edouard Herriot La tendresse du père est presque toujours en conflit avec les intérêts du chef. Mémoires d'Hadrien (1951) Citations de Marguerite Yourcenar Les molécules sont d'une plasticité étonnante chez l'homme, alors que pour changer une loi, un regard social, il faut des livres et des livres, des conflits et des siècles. De la parole comme d'une molécule (1995) Citations de Boris Cyrulnik Il n’y a de communication sans conflit. Flore Mas 2009 iii SUMMARY Parental care provided to current offspring such as food and/or protection increases offspring development and survival which contributes to the parent‟s fitness. However parental investment by means of time and energy may also reduce future chance to reproduce and therefore entails parent‟s lifetime reproductive success.
    [Show full text]
  • Caretta Caretta) Mitigate Clutch Failure Caused by Catastrophic Storms and Predators Deby L
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Multiple maternal risk‑management adaptations in the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) mitigate clutch failure caused by catastrophic storms and predators Deby L. Cassill Maternal risk‑management, an extension of r/K selection, is an indispensable tool for understanding the natural selection pressures that shape the evolution of reproduction. Central to the construct of maternal risk‑management is its defnition of reproductive success as replacement ftness (w = 2), the survival of one breeding daughter to replace the female and one outbreeding son to replace her mate. Here, I apply maternal risk‑management as a theoretical framework to explain multiple reproductive adaptations by loggerhead sea turtles nesting on a barrier island of the southern coast of Florida, US, from 1988 to 2004. Extrapolated over a 30‑year reproductive span, nesting females averaged 4000–4500 eggs. I show that, rather than “putting all their eggs in one basket,” females divided eggs into 40 clutches of variable size (50–165 eggs). To deposit clutches, females migrated to the barrier island 10–12 times at unpredictable intervals of 2–8 years. Each nesting season, females deposited 1–7 clutches over diversifed time intervals at diversifed locations on the beach. Despite devastating clutch losses caused by ten catastrophic hurricanes, hundreds of erratic thunderstorms and dozens of predation events during this study, 72% of clutches produced by nesting females on this barrier island were undisturbed—median hatching success for these clutches was an astonishing 92%. I conclude that diversifed maternal investments over time and space by nesting females are reproductive adaptations that have successfully ofset clutch losses, thus enabling populations of loggerhead females to meet or exceed their reproductive goal of replacement ftness.
    [Show full text]
  • LSNY Transactions V. 8, 1962
    iS* IT , r » (. TRANSACTIONS OF THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK Volume VIII Development of Behavior in Precocial Birds By Margaret Morse Nice New York July, 1962 THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK The Linnaean Society of New York, organized in 1878, is the second oldest of existing American ornithological societies. Regular meetings of the Society are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from September to May, inclusive. Informal meetings are held at least once a month during June, July and August All meetings (except the annual dinner meeting on the second Tuesday of March) are open to the public and are held at the American Museum of Natural History. Persons interested in natural history are eligible for election to membership in the Society. Annual dues for Active Members are $6.00, and for Associate Members are $2.50. The Society conducts field trips and maintains a circulating library for its members. It distributes free to all members a monthly News-Letter, and every few years an issue of Proceedings containing longer articles and notes of ornitho- logical interest. At irregular intervals the Society publishes longer papers and monographs called Transactions, which members receive free or at a substantial discount. Communications should be addressed to: Secretary, Linnaean Society of New York American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street New York 24, New York See inside back cover for a partial list of publications. QW \ /O/-/ TRANSACTIONS / / OF THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK Volume VIII Development of Behavior in Precocial Birds By Margaret Morse Nice Illustrated with Line Drawings by the Author New York July, 1962 To Albert Hochbaum without whom this book would never have been written PREFACE For four seasons—from 1951 to 1954—my daughter Constance and I were privileged to study the early development of precocial chicks at the Delta Waterfowl Research Station at Delta, Manitoba.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Reproductive Complexity in Fishes
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 9-2019 The Evolution of Reproductive Complexity in Fishes Frieda Benun The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3470 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE EVOLUTION OF REPRODUCTIVE COMPLEXITY IN FISHES By FRIEDA BENUN A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Biology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2019 © 2019 FRIEDA BENUN All Rights Reserved ii The Evolution of Reproductive Complexity in Fishes By Frieda Benun This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Biology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________ ____________________________________ Date Dr. Anthony B. Wilson Chair of Examining Committee ________________________ ____________________________________ Date Dr. Cathy Savage-Dunn Executive Officer Examination Committee: Dr. Jennifer Basil Dr. David Lahti Dr. Nicholas Santangelo Dr. Hope Klug THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii The Evolution of Reproductive Complexity in Fishes By Frieda Benun Advisor: Anthony B. Wilson ABSTRACT How does reproductive complexity evolve? In this dissertation, I investigate the evolution of parental investment and mating behavior, using both macro- and microevolutionary lenses. I use fishes, the most diverse group of vertebrates, comprising over 30,000 species, as a model to study the evolution of these traits.
    [Show full text]