Linked Life Data

11943862

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11943862

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
8
pubmed:dateCreated
2002-4-17
pubmed:abstractText
Recent work on wild birds has revealed the importance of sperm competition as a source of sexual selection, but behavioral and paternity studies have previously provided only indirect evidence for mechanisms of sperm competition in wild birds. In a field study of collared flycatchers Ficedula albicollis we used a previously uncharacterized method to determine the frequency and timing of extra-pair inseminations. By counting the number of sperm trapped on the perivitelline layer of eggs, we determined the timing of inseminations and estimated, on a day-to-day basis, the amount of sperm females stored. Our results showed that female collared flycatchers preferentially engaged in extra-pair copulations when mated to an unattractive male with a small white forehead patch. These copulations were timed for the middle part of their fertile period, at least 2 days after the last within-pair insemination. Although the mean number of extra-pair insemination events was only 1.33 per cuckolding female, the ratio between the number of sperm from extra-pair and pair inseminations was at least 5 to 1. Thus a single, well timed extra-pair insemination caused by female behavior could greatly bias fertilization probability in favor of an attractive extra-pair male. Our results suggest a possible behavioral mechanism for female control of sperm competition.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0027-8424
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
16
pubmed:volume
99
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
5466-70
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-9-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2002
pubmed:articleTitle
Experimental analysis of sperm competition mechanisms in a wild bird population.
pubmed:affiliation
Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös University, H-1117, Pázmány P. Sétány 1/C, Budapest, Hungary.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't