Mutual mate choice for olorful traits in King Penguins

While studies of mate choice based on male color pattern are ubiquitous, studies of mate choice based on ornamental color traits in sexually monomorphic species are less common. We conducted manipulative field experiments on two color ornaments of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), the size of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethology
Main Authors: Nolan, Paul M., Dobson, F. Stephen, Nicolaus, Marion, Karels, Tim J., McGraw, Kevin J., Jouventin, Pierre
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
BLUE-FOOTED BOOBY
FINCH BILL COLOR
APTENODYTES-PATAGONICUS
SEXUAL SELECTION
BODY CONDITION
FEMALE
ORNAMENTS
SIZE
EVOLUTION
DICHROMATISM
Finch
The Beak
King Penguins
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/abffcf87-58c1-48b3-89cb-e376590c9d89
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/abffcf87-58c1-48b3-89cb-e376590c9d89
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01775.x
Description
Summary:While studies of mate choice based on male color pattern are ubiquitous, studies of mate choice based on ornamental color traits in sexually monomorphic species are less common. We conducted manipulative field experiments on two color ornaments of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), the size of auricular patches of orange feathers and degree of UV reflectance from beak spots, to determine how the degree of ornamentation influenced pairing rate. In a reduction of auricular patch size, females paired significantly more quickly than males in both control and experimental samples. When this bias was taken into account statistically, pairing of individuals with reduced auricular patches was significantly delayed. We also reduced, but did not eliminate, UV reflectance from beak spots by applying a UV filter; no sex difference in pairing rate was evident in this experiment. Treated birds paired significantly more slowly than untreated control individuals, taking more than a week longer to pair on average than their unmanipulated counterparts, a result that was significant for males and approached significance for females. Our results may indicate mutual mate choice via UV reflectance of the beak spot. Given that this is a species where breeding is extremely slow and considerable investment by both males and females is required for successful reproduction, our results support the hypothesis that in such species, sexual selection might act on the same ornament in both sexes.

Similar Items