High level of extra-pair paternity in the socially monogamous Marsh Tits (Poecile palustris)

Background Extra-pair copulation behavior has been widely studied among socially monogamous birds. Many species revealed high rates of extra-pair paternity. But few of the studies have been carried out in the Asian population. Methods From 2012 to 2019, we explored the extra-pair paternity of Marsh Tits (Poecile palustris) in Xianrendong National Nature Reserve, Liaoning Province, China. During the study, adult Marsh Tits were captured with mist nets and parental birds, with nest-box traps. Blood samples were taken from the brachial vein. Parentage analyses were carried out using nine highly variable microsatellite loci through Cervus 3.0 software and maximum likelihood approach. Results Forty-nine offspring (15.08%) from 20 nests (45.45%) were the results of extra-pair fertilization out of a total of 325 offspring in 44 nests. The average extra-pair offspring ratio was 33.54%, with a set varying from 11.11 to 71.43%. Nine extra-pair fathers had been successfully identified, four of whom were the close neighbors of the focus nest while the nests of the remaining five were relatively far. No significant difference was found in the genetic similarity between the social and extra-pair mates of the female, nor in the heterozygosis among the maternal half-siblings. Conclusions In general, our study proved that the extra-pair paternity in Marsh Tits and its extra-pair mating is independent of the genetic compatibility hypothesis. This complements the understudied bird’s extra-pair paternity in Asian area and contributes to the comprehensive insight of birds’ extra-pair paternity behaviors.

Structural Synthesis and Analysis of Mechanisms with an Output Link Performing Two Rotational and One Translational Movements

The article considers mechanisms based on a hinged flat parallelogram with an additional link, ensuring the ability to maintain the insertion point of the tool installed on the output link. A rotational kinematic pair coupled to the base allows the plane of rotation of the articulated parallelogram to change the angle of inclination. The proposed design should have a greater load capacity than the available analogues, since the rotational kinematic pair mating the articulated parallelogram with the base is made in the form of two semi-axes, and the output link is located between the intermediate links of this parallelogram. The equality of the rotation angles of the output link and the intermediate links of the articulated parallelogram is ensured by the presence of additional links or belt drives. Three-dimensional models of these mechanisms are presented, and their structural synthesis is carried out in various modifications. Depending on the modification, it becomes possible to apply such mechanisms not only in industry, including additive technologies, but also in the field of medicine during surgical operations and in the study of plasma properties.

Density-dependent mating behaviors reduce male mating harassment in locusts

Male mating harassment may occur when females and males do not have the same mating objectives. Communal animals need to manage the costs of male mating harassment. Here, we demonstrate how desert locusts in dense populations reduce such conflicts through behaviors. In transient populations (of solitarious morphology but gregarious behavior), we found that nongravid females occupied separate sites far from males and were not mating, whereas males aggregated on open ground (leks), waiting for gravid females to enter the lekking sites. Once a male mounted a gravid female, no other males attacked the pair; mating pairs were thereby protected during the vulnerable time of oviposition. In comparison, solitarious locusts displayed a balanced sex ratio in low-density populations, and females mated irrespective of their ovarian state. Our results indicate that the mating behaviors of desert locusts are density dependent and that sex-biased behavioral group separation may minimize the costs of male mating harassment and competition.

Body size is associated with yearling breeding and extra-pair mating in the Island Scrub-Jay

Large body size is an important determinant of individual fitness in many animal species, especially in island systems where habitat saturation may result in strong intraspecific competition for mates and breeding territories. Here we show that large body size is associated with benefits to yearling breeding and extra-pair mating in the Island Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma insularis), endemic to Santa Cruz Island, California. This species is ~20% larger than its mainland congener, consistent with the island syndrome, indicating that body size may be a trait under selection. From 2009 to 2013, we quantified the reproductive success of a marked population of Island Scrub-Jays, tracked which yearlings acquired a breeding territory and bred, and measured the occurrence of extra-pair paternity. Two potential contributors to fitness were positively related to body size. Larger yearling males were more likely to breed, possibly due to greater behavioral dominance during aggressive encounters. Larger males were also less likely to lose paternity to extra-pair males and, anecdotally, extra-pair males were larger than the social male cuckolded. This study provides evidence that larger males may have a fitness advantage over smaller males by breeding earlier and avoiding paternity loss, but estimates of lifetime reproductive success are ultimately needed for Island Scrub-Jays and other long-lived species.

An integrative measure of cognitive performance, but not individual task performance, is linked to male reproductive output in budgerigars

Cognitive abilities such as learning and memory are key for survival and reproduction. Individuals with high cognitive abilities may be more successful at attracting mates and producing offspring. However, empirical tests of and evidence supporting this hypothesis remain scarce. We measured cognitive performance of male budgerigars in four tasks: problem solving, detour reaching, seed discrimination, and spatial memory. We then tested female choice for male cognition at three stages of the mating choice process: social pairing, extra-pair mating, and continued reproductive investment with a social mate. We also measured female reproductive output. We used an integrative measure of male cognitive performance that encapsulates performance across all tasks, the ‘composite cognitive score’ by summing performance on the four tasks. In the first stage, females did not choose their social mates based on any of the measures of male cognitive performance. In the second stage, however, males with higher composite cognitive scores sired and raised more offspring. In the third stage, females increased their reproductive investment after the first breeding attempt when paired with males with higher detour-reaching scores. These results suggest that female reproductive decisions may shape overall male cognitive performance.

It's not what it looks like!

The notion of extra pair mating interests is seen as controversial in Western societies where monogamy is the dominant mating system. Attending to attractive others is often seen as an indicator of, or antecedent to engaging in infidelity. However, we argue that attending to attractive others is an adaptive and automatic process because it informs and maintains plasticity in mating strategies. Previous research has examined later attentional processes in relation to potential mates, but not early attentional capture which is beyond conscious control. Participants indicated whether they were predominantly attracted to male or female faces, then completed two flicker tasks, each consisting of faces of the gender the participants indicated they were most attracted to; one consisted of a grid of attractive faces and the other consisted of unattractive faces. Time taken to detect changes to the attractive or unattractive faces was measured as an indication of attentional bias towards potential mates. Sociosexual desires and self reported romantic interests outside of the primary relationship predicted a quicker response time to attractive faces relative to unattractive faces. Relationship status, sex of the participant, sociosexual attitudes, sociosexual behaviours, and self reported sexual interests outside of the primary relationship did not predict response time on the flicker tasks. The results suggest early attentional processes are biased towards potential mates in a given environment which calibrates and maintains plasticity in mating strategies, however this does not necessarily indicate an inclination towards infidelity.

The mathematical model of engagement and analytical description of tooth profile of waveform edge kinematic reducer

The problem of creating a waveform edge kinematical reducer with multi-pair gearing brings to the fore a range of issues in the field of geometric-kinematic gearing theory, which are considered in this work. The synthesis of multi-pair gearing for a waveform edge kinematical reducer, which ensures the constancy of their transfer function, provides for: development of a mathematical model of gearing taking into account the peculiarities of the interaction of teeth during special-spherical motion; description of the profile of the teeth by a system of equations for a spherical surface and for a normal section of teeth for internal gearing; identification with the help of the MathCAD 2010 Professional program of a mathematical experiment and determination of the area of existence of 100 % multi-pair mating of teeth by comparing the shape of their profile with the nature of the analytical function of multi-pair engagement

Heritability of the extra-pair mating behaviour of the pied flycatcher in Western Siberia

Males and females take part in extra-pair copulations in most socially monogamous bird species. The mechanisms leading to the frequent occurrence of extra-pair offspring in socially monogamous couples are strongly debated and unresolved, and they are often difficult to distinguish from one another. Most hypotheses explaining the evolution of extra-pair reproduction suggest selective and adaptive scenarios for their origination and persistence. Is extra-pair paternity a heritable trait? We evaluated the heritability of extra-pair paternity in the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) nesting in Western Siberia. Estimated heritability was low: depending on the model used, the point estimate of the heritability (mode) varied from 0.005 to 0.11, and the bounds of the 95% confidence interval are [0–0.16] in the widest range. Thus, it seems that extra-pair mating behaviour in the pied flycatchers is a plastic phenotypic mating tactic with a small or no genetic component. Our data can help to understand the evolution of extra-pair mating behaviour in socially monogamous species.