Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
Animal behaviour is especially sensitive to environmental variability and prey availability during the breeding season, and this is particularly true for non-volant, central place foragers such as the endangered African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Individual sex and morphology, as well as the lev...
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ftrhodesunivcory:vital:5943 2023-05-15T15:44:44+02:00 Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) Smith, Diane Lauren 2016 186 leaves pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019993 https://corycommons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:5943 English eng Rhodes University Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology vital:5943 https://corycommons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:5943 http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019993 Smith, Diane Lauren African penguin Penguins -- South Africa Penguins -- Sexual behavior Parental behavior in animals Thesis Masters MSc 2016 ftrhodesunivcory 2022-12-26T13:23:09Z Animal behaviour is especially sensitive to environmental variability and prey availability during the breeding season, and this is particularly true for non-volant, central place foragers such as the endangered African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Individual sex and morphology, as well as the level of assortment within mated pairs can influence both the behaviour and the reproductive success of species exhibiting biparental care. This study made use of a large biometric database and nest attendance video footage to determine the influence of intrinsic (assortative mating, brood size and chick age) and extrinsic (environmental conditions, anthropic disturbance) factors on breeding behaviour and performance of African Penguins on Bird Island, Algoa Bay, during peak breeding (March - July) in 2013. While sexual dimorphism in African Penguins is subtle, the colony-specific discriminant functions presented here provide an accurate sexing tool when only bill and flipper length are available. Despite the premise that selection of a large, high-quality mate in this longlived, monogamous seabird governs lifetime fitness, only low levels of assortative mating were found, and this only for earlier breeders, when larger females (but not males) bred. The 2013 season was a particularly successful one, coinciding with above-average sardine and anchovy abundance, and almost 80 percent of monitored nests were double-brooded, with very low levels of mortality. A- and B-chicks of double broods and singleton chicks grew at similar rates and exhibited similar body condition indices. In these conditions, chick developmental rates were independent of parental size, assortment or provisioning behaviour. Females raising a double brood were significantly lighter and in poorer body condition than those raising a single chick, although the same trend was not evident in males. Offspring sex ratio in 2013 (2.27:1) favoured male chicks, suggesting that there is potential to over-produce the larger sex when resources are plentiful. Peak ... Master Thesis Bird Island Rhodes University Cory: Repository Bird Island ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Rhodes University Cory: Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftrhodesunivcory |
language |
English |
topic |
African penguin Penguins -- South Africa Penguins -- Sexual behavior Parental behavior in animals |
spellingShingle |
African penguin Penguins -- South Africa Penguins -- Sexual behavior Parental behavior in animals Smith, Diane Lauren Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) |
topic_facet |
African penguin Penguins -- South Africa Penguins -- Sexual behavior Parental behavior in animals |
description |
Animal behaviour is especially sensitive to environmental variability and prey availability during the breeding season, and this is particularly true for non-volant, central place foragers such as the endangered African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Individual sex and morphology, as well as the level of assortment within mated pairs can influence both the behaviour and the reproductive success of species exhibiting biparental care. This study made use of a large biometric database and nest attendance video footage to determine the influence of intrinsic (assortative mating, brood size and chick age) and extrinsic (environmental conditions, anthropic disturbance) factors on breeding behaviour and performance of African Penguins on Bird Island, Algoa Bay, during peak breeding (March - July) in 2013. While sexual dimorphism in African Penguins is subtle, the colony-specific discriminant functions presented here provide an accurate sexing tool when only bill and flipper length are available. Despite the premise that selection of a large, high-quality mate in this longlived, monogamous seabird governs lifetime fitness, only low levels of assortative mating were found, and this only for earlier breeders, when larger females (but not males) bred. The 2013 season was a particularly successful one, coinciding with above-average sardine and anchovy abundance, and almost 80 percent of monitored nests were double-brooded, with very low levels of mortality. A- and B-chicks of double broods and singleton chicks grew at similar rates and exhibited similar body condition indices. In these conditions, chick developmental rates were independent of parental size, assortment or provisioning behaviour. Females raising a double brood were significantly lighter and in poorer body condition than those raising a single chick, although the same trend was not evident in males. Offspring sex ratio in 2013 (2.27:1) favoured male chicks, suggesting that there is potential to over-produce the larger sex when resources are plentiful. Peak ... |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Smith, Diane Lauren |
author_facet |
Smith, Diane Lauren |
author_sort |
Smith, Diane Lauren |
title |
Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) |
title_short |
Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) |
title_full |
Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) |
title_fullStr |
Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) |
title_sort |
penguin parenting : assortative mating, nest attendance and sex-specific chick provisioning in the african penguin (spheniscus demersus) |
publisher |
Rhodes University |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019993 https://corycommons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:5943 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) |
geographic |
Bird Island |
geographic_facet |
Bird Island |
genre |
Bird Island |
genre_facet |
Bird Island |
op_relation |
vital:5943 https://corycommons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:5943 http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019993 |
op_rights |
Smith, Diane Lauren |
_version_ |
1766379110969376768 |