Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on June 22, 2005
Behavioral Ecology 2005 16(5):825-833; doi:10.1093/beheco/ari065
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Paternity in mallards: effects of sperm quality and female sperm selection for inbreeding avoidance
a Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Postfach 1564, D-82305 Starnberg, Germany, b University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Wien, Austria, and c EAWAG, Überlandstrasse 133, Postfach 611, CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Address correspondence to A.G. Denk. E-mail: denk{at}orn.mpg.de.
Postcopulatory processes might play an important role in sexual selection. In theory, fertilization success could be controlled by females via selection of particular sperm within their reproductive tract, or it could be determined by sperm competition per se. In practice, these two mechanisms are difficult to disentangle. To assess the relative importance of both mechanisms we used artificial insemination in combination with measurements of sperm quality (swimming speed and motility) in mallards. In this species, females often lack behavioral control over copulations and hence may use postcopulatory mechanisms to optimize their reproductive output. One important factor affecting female fitness may be selection of genetically compatible males. To investigate the influence of sperm quality and parental relatedness on paternity we inseminated 12 groups of related females with a sperm mixture containing equal numbers of sperm from a brother and from an unrelated male. Paternity was independent of the relatedness of the siring male to the female but was significantly affected by long-term sperm swimming speed and motility. No interaction between relatedness and sperm quality on paternity was observed. These results suggest that female mallards are not able to select sperm on a purely genetic basis and emphasize the importance of sperm quality in gaining paternity.
Key words: Anas platyrhynchos, cryptic female choice, mallard, sperm competition, sperm motility, sperm selection, sperm swimming speed.
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