High rates of pregnancy loss by subordinates leads to high reproductive skew in wild golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia).

Across taxa, cooperative breeding has been associated with high reproductive skew. Cooperatively breeding golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) were long thought to have a monogynous mating system in which reproduction was limited to a single dominant female. Subordinates with few reproductive opportunities delayed dispersal and remained in the natal group to provide alloparental care to siblings, thus allowing dominant reproductive females to meet the energetic needs associated with high rates of reproduction and successful infant rearing. The goal of this study was to re-assess monogyny in wild golden lion tamarin groups based upon pregnancy diagnoses that used non-invasive enzyme immunoassay for progesterone and cortisol, combined with weekly data on individual weight gain, bi-annual physical examinations noting pregnancy and lactation status and daily behavioral observations. We established quantitative and qualitative criteria to detect and determine the timing of pregnancies that did not result in the birth of infants. Pregnancy polygyny occurred in 83% of golden lion tamarin groups studied. The loss of 64% of subordinate pregnancies compared to only 15% by dominant females limited reproductive success mainly to dominant females, thus maintaining high reproductive skew in female golden lion tamarins. Pregnancy loss by subordinate adults did not appear to result from dominant interference in subordinate hormonal mechanisms, but more likely resulted from subordinate abandonment of newborn infants to mitigate dominant aggression.

Aerobic capacity in wild satin bowerbirds: repeatability and effects of age, sex and condition.

Individual variation in aerobic capacity has been extensively studied, especially with respect to condition, maturity or pathogen infection, and to gain insights into mechanistic foundations of performance. However, its relationship to mate competition is less well understood, particularly for animals in natural habitats. We examined aerobic capacity [maximum rate of O2 consumption (VO2,max) in forced exercise] in wild satin bowerbirds, an Australian passerine with a non-resource based mating system and strong intermale sexual competition. We tested for repeatability of mass and VO2,max, differences among age and sex classes, and effects of several condition indices. In adult males, we examined interactions between aerobic performance and bower ownership (required for male mating success). There was significant repeatability of mass and VO2,max within and between years, but between-year repeatability was lower than within-year repeatability. VO2,max varied with an overall scaling to mass(0.791), but most variance in VO2,max was not explained by mass. Indicators of condition (tarsus and wing length asymmetry, the ratio of tarsus length to mass) were not correlated to VO2,max. Ectoparasite counts were weakly correlated to VO2,max across all age-sex classes but not within any class. Adult males, the cohort with the most intense levels of mating competition, had higher VO2,max than juvenile birds or adult females. However, there was no difference between the VO2,max of bower-owning males and that of males not known to hold bowers. Thus one major factor determining male reproductive success was not correlated to aerobic performance.

Female preferences drive the evolution of mimetic accuracy in male sexual displays.

Males in many bird species mimic the vocalizations of other species during sexual displays, but the evolutionary and functional significance of interspecific vocal mimicry is unclear. Here we use spectrographic cross-correlation to compare mimetic calls produced by male satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) in courtship with calls from several model species. We show that the accuracy of vocal mimicry and the number of model species mimicked are both independently related to male mating success. Multivariate analyses revealed that these mimetic traits were better predictors of male mating success than other male display traits previously shown to be important for male mating success. We suggest that preference-driven mimetic accuracy may be a widespread occurrence, and that mimetic accuracy may provide females with important information about male quality. Our findings support an alternative hypothesis to help explain a common element of male sexual displays.