Protoporphyrin-based eggshell pigmentation predicts hatching success and offspring sex ratio in the barn swallow

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. jav-012405
Author(s):  
Margherita Corti ◽  
Andrea Romano ◽  
Alessandra Costanzo ◽  
Alexandra B. Bentz ◽  
Kristen J. Navara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Barn Swallow ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Eggshell Pigmentation

scholarly journals Maternal corticosterone exposure has transgenerational effects on grand-offspring

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 20160627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Khan ◽  
Richard A. Peters ◽  
Emily Richardson ◽  
Kylie A. Robert
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
First Record ◽  
Female Offspring ◽  
Adaptive Mechanism ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Ratio Bias ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Unstable Environment

The hormone fluctuations that an animal experiences during ovulation can have lifelong effects on developing offspring. These hormones may act as an adaptive mechanism, allowing offspring to be ‘pre-programmed’ to survive in an unstable environment. Here, we used a transgenerational approach to examine the effects of elevated maternal corticosterone (CORT) on the future reproductive success of female offspring. We show that female zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata ) exposed to embryonic CORT produce daughters that have equal reproductive success (clutch sizes, fertility, hatching success) compared with the daughters produced from untreated mothers, but their offspring had accelerated post-hatching growth rates and were significantly heavier by nutritional independence. Although there was no significant effect on primary offspring sex ratio, females from CORT-treated mothers produced significantly female-biased clutches by nutritional independence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of a transgenerational sex ratio bias in response to elevated maternal CORT in any avian species.

Offspring sex ratio in moose Alces alces in relation to paternal age: an experiment

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernt-Erik Sæther ◽  
Erling J. Solberg ◽  
Morten Heim ◽  
John E. Stacy ◽  
Kjetill S. Jakobsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Alces Alces ◽  
Paternal Age ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Offspring Sex

Breeding system can affect the offspring sex ratio in Syrian hamsters

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
M O M Chelini ◽  
N L Souza ◽  
E Otta
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Breeding System ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Syrian Hamsters ◽  
Offspring Sex

scholarly journals Is biasing offspring sex ratio adaptive? A test of Fisher's principle across multiple generations of a wild mammal in a fluctuating environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1891) ◽  
pp. 20181251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea E. Wishart ◽  
Cory T. Williams ◽  
Andrew G. McAdam ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
Ben Dantzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Secondary Sex Ratio ◽  
North American Red Squirrels ◽  
Negative Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Fisher’S Principle

Fisher's principle explains that population sex ratio in sexually reproducing organisms is maintained at 1 : 1 owing to negative frequency-dependent selection, such that individuals of the rare sex realize greater reproductive opportunity than individuals of the more common sex until equilibrium is reached. If biasing offspring sex ratio towards the rare sex is adaptive, individuals that do so should have more grandoffspring. In a wild population of North American red squirrels ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) that experiences fluctuations in resource abundance and population density, we show that overall across 26 years, the secondary sex ratio was 1 : 1; however, stretches of years during which adult sex ratio was biased did not yield offspring sex ratios biased towards the rare sex. Females that had litters biased towards the rare sex did not have more grandoffspring. Critically, the adult sex ratio was not temporally autocorrelated across years, thus the population sex ratio experienced by parents was independent of the population sex ratio experienced by their offspring at their primiparity. Expected fitness benefits of biasing offspring sex ratio may be masked or negated by fluctuating environments across years, which limit the predictive value of the current sex ratio.

Maternal Testosterone and Offspring Sex-Ratio in Birds and Mammals: A Meta-Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Merkling ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Malgorzata Lagisz ◽  
Lisa E. Schwanz
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Maternal Testosterone
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