Extra-Pair Paternity in the Common Murre

• Published in: The Condor
• Main Authors: Birkhead, Tim R., Hatchwell, Ben J., Lindner, Robert, Blomqvist, Donald, Pellatt, E. Jayne, Griffiths, Richard, Lifjeld, Jan T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2001
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Common Murre; Uria aalge; uria
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/condor/103.1.158; http://academic.oup.com/condor/article-pdf/103/1/158/29711640/condor0158.pdf

Abstract Multi-locus DNA fingerprinting was used to estimate the frequency of extra-pair paternity in the Common Murre (Uria aalge), a colonial, sexually monomorphic seabird that breeds at very high densities and in which extra-pair copulation is frequent. Common Murres produce a single chick. We detected 6 cases of extra-pair paternity in 77 families (7.8%). This value was higher than the proportion of successful extra-pair copulations (1.6%) estimated from behavioral data from an earlier study of the same population.