Smart is the new sexy: female mountain chickadees increase reproductive investment when mated to males with better spatial cognition

被引:37
|
作者
Branch, Carrie L. [1 ,3 ]
Pitera, Angela M. [1 ]
Kozlovsky, Dovid Y. [1 ,4 ]
Bridge, Eli S. [2 ]
Pravosudov, Vladimir V. [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Nevada, Ecol Evolut & Conservat Biol Grad Program, Reno, NV 89557 USA
[2] Univ Oklahoma, Oklahoma Biol Survey, Norman, OK 73019 USA
[3] Cornell Univ, Cornell Lab Ornithol, 159 Sapsucker Woods Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA
[4] Univ Ottawa, Dept Biol, 30 Marie Curie Private, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
Chickadee; cognition; fitness; food caching; parental investment; reproduction; spatial memory; EXTRA-PAIR PATERNITY; INDIVIDUAL VARIATION; WILD; BIRDS; EVOLUTION; ECOLOGY; MEMORY; PERFORMANCE; SUCCESS; CHOICE;
D O I
10.1111/ele.13249
中图分类号
Q14 [生态学(生物生态学)];
学科分类号
071012 ; 0713 ;
摘要
Understanding the evolution of inter and intraspecific variation in cognitive abilities is one of the main goals in cognitive ecology. In scatter-caching species, spatial memory is critical for the recovery of food caches and overwinter survival, but its effects on reproduction are less clear. Better spatial cognition may improve pre-breeding condition allowing for earlier reproduction. Alternatively, when mated to males with better spatial memory, females may be able to invest more in reproduction which may allow increased offspring survival and hence higher fitness. Using wild food-caching mountain chickadees, we found that when environmental conditions were favourable for breeding, females mated to males with better spatial cognition laid larger clutches and fledged larger broods than females mated to males with worse cognitive performance. Our results support the hypothesis that females may increase their reproductive investment to gain indirect, genetic benefits when mated to high-quality males with better spatial cognitive abilities.
引用
收藏
页码:897 / 903
页数:7
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