Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (20)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schwartz, M. K.
Right arrow Articles by Fleischer, R. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Schwartz, M. K.
Right arrow Articles by Fleischer, R. C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 10 No. 3: 242-250
© 1999 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

Female-solicited extrapair matings in Humboldt penguins fail to produce extrapair fertilizations

Michael K. Schwartza,b, Daryl J. Bonessa, Catherine M. Schaeffb, Patricia Majlufc, Elizabeth A. Perrya and Robert C. Fleischera

a Department of Zoological Research, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20008, USA b Department of Biology, American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington, DC 20016, USA c Wildlife Conservation Society, Paul de Beaudiez 520, Lima 27, Peru

Address correspondence to M. K. Schwartz, Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula MT 59812; USA. E-mail: mks{at}selway.umt.edu

The study reported in this paper demonstrated that Humboldt penguins at Punta San Juan, Peru, despite forming pair-bonds, are not strictly monogamous in their mating behavior: 19.2% of the study males and 30.7% of the study females (21 nests) engaged in extrapair copulations. The total number of completed matings observed during the course of this study was 106, of which 17.9% were extrapair copulations. Using DNA fingerprinting we demonstrated that none of these extrapair copulations resulted in extrapair fertilizations; all 49 offspring were attributed to the putative father. Location of copulations suggested that females solicited these extrapair copulations because 89.2% of Humboldt penguin within-pair copulations occurred at the home burrow, yet extrapair copulations took place at a different location based on the sex of the penguin. Extrapair copulations by males occurred at their nest, whereas females conducted 92% of their extrapair copulations away from the nest. These results are most consistent with mate-appraisal and epiphenomenal hypotheses.

Key words: epiphenomenon, extrapair fertilization, extrapair mating, female choice, Humboldt penguins, mate appraisal, Spheniscus humboldti.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
C. Spottiswoode and A. P. Moller
Extrapair paternity, migration, and breeding synchrony in birds
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2004; 15(1): 41 - 57.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
D. C. Dearborn, A. D. Anders, and P. G. Parker
Sexual dimorphism, extrapair fertilizations, and operational sex ratio in great frigatebirds (Fregata minor)
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2001; 12(6): 746 - 752.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.