Abstract
Choice of mating partners may affect fitness. Both phenotypic and genetic traits have been shown to play roles in the mating processes of animals. We investigated the roles of phenotypic and genetic characteristics in the patterns of social mating in the Silver-throated Tit (Aegithalos glaucogularis), a sexually monochromatic species that exhibits sexual size dimorphism, rarely sings, does not occupy territories, and has a relative low level of extrapair paternity. To explore the role of phenotype traits, we tested for assortative mating based on the sizes of seven morphological traits. To explore the role of genetic traits, we tested for assortative mating with respect to genetic heterozygosity (the heterozygous mate hypothesis) and whether birds mated with genetically dissimilar individuals (the compatible mate hypothesis). We found significant correlations between paired individuals for bill length and body length, indicating possible assortative mating based on these two traits. In contrast, genetic heterozygosity was not correlated between paired individuals, and the mean relatedness of the mates was not significantly different from that of randomly mated individuals, which do not support the idea that Silver-throated Tits assortatively mate with heterozygous individuals or choose genetically dissimilar mates. Also, individual heterozygosity was not reflected in the measured morphological traits, as no correlation was detected. Neither the individual heterozygosity nor the relatedness between mates was correlated with reproductive performance measures, including clutch size, brood size, and number of fledglings. However, we found that clutch size increased with female body length, which could explain the benefit to males of mating with larger females. Taken together, while our current data failed to provide evidence for an effect of genetic characteristics on the social mating pattern of Silver-throated Tits, the results suggest that phenotypic traits are likely associated with their mating pattern.
Zusammenfassung
Die Rolle phänotypischer und genetischer Eigenschaften in sozialen Paarungsmustern der Silberkehl-Schwanzmeise Die Wahl des Geschlechtspartners kann die Fitness beeinflussen. Es wurde gezeigt, dass sowohl phänotypische als auch genetische Merkmale eine Rolle spielen im Paarungsverhalten von Tieren. Wir untersuchten die Rolle von phänotypischen und genetischen Eigenschaften in den Mustern der sozialen Paarung bei der Silberkehl-Schwanzmeise (Aegithalos glaucogularis), einer Art, die zwar für die Größe, nicht jedoch für die Färbung sexualdimorph ist, selten singt, keine Territorien verteidigt und einen relativ geringen Anteil paarfremder Elternschaft aufweist. Um die Rolle phänotypischer Eigenschaften zu untersuchen, testeten wir ob anhand der Größe sieben morphologischer Merkmale zueinander passende Paare gebildet werden. Die Rolle genetischer Eigenschaften untersuchten wir, indem wir testeten, ob passende Paare in Bezug auf Heterozygotie gebildet werden (Hypothese heterozygoter Partner) und ob die Vögel sich mit genetisch weniger ähnlichen Individuen verpaaren (Hypothese kompatibler Partner). Bei verpaarten Individuen fanden wir signifikante Korrelationen zwischen Schnabellänge und Körperlänge, was auf eine Verpaarung hindeutet, die möglicherweise anhand dieser zwei Merkmale angepasst ist. Dagegen war Heterozygotie nicht korreliert zwischen verpaarten Individuen, und die mittlere genetische Verwandtschaft der Partner war nicht signifikant unterschiedlich von zufällig gepaarten Individuen. Dies spricht dagegen, dass Silberkehl-Schwanzmeisen sich gezielt mit heterozygoten Individuen verpaaren oder genetisch weniger ähnliche Partner wählen. Ebenso wenig spiegelte sich auch die individuelle Heterozygotie in den gemessenen morphologischen Eigenschaften wieder, da dort keine Korrelation gefunden werden konnte. Weder die individuelle Heterozygotie noch die Verwandtschaft zwischen den Partnern korrelierte mit Maßen für die Reproduktionsleistung, darunter Gelegegröße, Brutgröße und Anzahl der flüggen Jungtiere. Allerdings fanden wir, dass die Gelegegröße mit der Körperlänge des Weibchens zunahm, was einen Vorteil erklären könnte, die Männchen erlangen, die sich mit größeren Weibchen verpaaren. Alles in allem konnten unsere derzeitigen Daten keinen Nachweis liefern für den Einfluss genetischer Eigenschaften auf das soziale Paarungsmuster der Silberkehl-Schwanzmeisen, aber die Ergebnisse legen einen wahrscheinlichen Einfluss phänotypischer Eigenschaften nahe.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support of the study was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31101644 and 31470221), and a USDA Evens-Allen grant through Alabama A&M University. Yong Wang’s research in China was supported by funds from Alabama A&M University, the US National Science Foundation, and Beijing Normal University. We thank Myung-Bok Lee, Abel Souriau, Zachary Pohlen, Gabriele Cavallini, Edmund Keyes, Kai-Ting Yang, Peng Zhang, Jiao Wang, Chang Gao, Lijv Chen, Xiaolong Wu, and Yingying Liu for their valuable help with the field or lab work. We also thank Dongzhai National Reserve for giving us permission to perform and assistance with our fieldwork. We are most grateful to Andrew Cantrell, Yang Liu and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript. Our study abided by the current laws of China on the protection of wildlife.
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Li, J., Lv, L., Wang, P. et al. Roles of phenotypic and genetic characteristics in the social mating pattern of Silver-throated Tits (Aegithalos glaucogularis). J Ornithol 156, 687–697 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1166-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-015-1166-9