Skip Navigation



Behavioral Ecology Advance Access published online on November 24, 2004
Behavioral Ecology, doi:10.1093/beheco/ari010
© 2004 by International Society for Behavioral Ecology
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/2/456    most recent
ari010v1
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 Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Eimes, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, E. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Eimes, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, E. R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Received November 5, 2003
Revised October 16, 2004
Accepted October 23, 2004

Article

Extrapair fertilization and genetic similarity of social mates in the Mexican jay

John A. Eimes 1*, Patricia G. Parker 1, Jerram L. Brown 2, and Esther R. Brown 2

1 Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 8001 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO 63121, USA
2 Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
John A. Eimes, E-mail: jeimes{at}netzero.com


  Abstract

Inbreeding depression should favor the ability of females to avoid inbreeding or minimize its effects. We tested for a relationship between genetic similarity of social pairs and the occurrence of extrapair fertilization (EPF) in the Mexican jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina). Multilocus minisatellite and microsatellite DNA fingerprinting was used to detect extrapair young and measure genetic similarity between social parents. We found that 12 of 31 (39%) nests had at least one EPF and 15 of 93 (16%) young were the result of EPF. The mean DNA fingerprinting band sharing score between social mates who had at least one EPF was significantly higher than the mean band sharing score between mates who did not (0.35 versus 0.25). The mean band sharing score for non-EPF dyads (0.25) was similar to the background band sharing among nonrelatives (0.23). The mean band sharing score for mates that had an EPF was significantly higher than that of nonrelatives (background) and was significantly lower than that of half-siblings (0.52). Our results showed a highly significant relationship between genetic similarity of social mates and incidence of EPF.

Keywords: extra-pair fertilization; mate choice; Aphelocoma; genetic relatedness; inbreeding depression.
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
 Proc R Soc BHome page
M. Szulkin and B. C Sheldon
Dispersal as a means of inbreeding avoidance in a wild bird population
Proc R Soc B, March 22, 2008; 275(1635): 703 - 711.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
J. E. Brommer, P. Korsten, K. M. Bouwman, M. L. Berg, and J. Komdeur
Is extrapair mating random? On the probability distribution of extrapair young in avian broods
Behav. Ecol., September 1, 2007; 18(5): 895 - 904.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
C. R. Freeman-Gallant, N. T. Wheelwright, K. E. Meiklejohn, and S. V. Sollecito
Genetic similarity, extrapair paternity, and offspring quality in Savannah sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis)
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2006; 17(6): 952 - 958.
[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.