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- Title
Why female crested tits copulate repeatedly with the same partner: evidence for the mate assessment hypothesis
- Authors
Lens, Luc; Dhondt, Andre A.; Van Broeckhoven, Christine; Van Dongen, Stefan; Van den Broeck, Marleen
- Abstract
That repeated copulation with the same partner within a single fertile period is beneficial to the male is generally accepted, but why itshould be adaptive to the female is controversial and clear evidencesupporting any hypothesis is lacking. Hunter et al. (1993) presented seven hypotheses explaining repeated mating from the female perspective. Four of them are consistent with the occurrence of male refusalto copulate: females might trade copulations for (1) immediate and/or (2) future material benefits, or use mating as a mechanism for (3) mate-guarding and/or (4) mate-assessment. To test these hypotheses ina population of crested tits Parus cristatus, we collected data on variation in female solicitation rate, proportion of male refusal, andextra-pair paternity. We found that (1) female solicitation rate wasindependent of male condition, (2) the proportion of male refusal was higher in poor-condition males and (3) females paired to poor-condition males sought extra pair paternity. These findings agree with predictions stemming from the mate assessment hypothesis. Therefore, it is suggested that, in crested tits, male response to female copulation solicitation reflects male condition and is used by females to assess male quality.
- Publication
Behavioral Ecology, 1997, Vol 8, Issue 1, p87
- ISSN
1045-2249
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/beheco/8.1.87