Data from: No fitness benefits of early molt in a fairy-wren: relaxed sexual selection under genetic monogamy?
| Main Authors: | Fan, Marie, Hall, Michelle L., Kingma, Sjouke A., Mandeltort, Lisa M., Hidalgo Aranzamendi, Nataly, Delhey, Kaspar, Peters, Anne |
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| Format: | info dataset Journal |
| Terbitan: |
, 2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/4975582 |
Daftar Isi:
- The evolution of male ornamentation has long been the focus of sexual selection studies. However, evidence is accumulating that sexually selected traits can also be lost, although the process is ill-understood. In male fairy-wrens (Malurus spp.), early molt into the seasonal breeding plumage is critical for obtaining extra-pair paternity (EPP), which reaches very high levels in these socially monogamous songbirds. A notable exception is the purple-crowned fairy-wren, Malurus coronatus, which, like its congeners, breeds cooperatively, but where EPP is very rare. Nevertheless, males develop a conspicuous seasonal breeding plumage at highly variable times. Based on 6 years of molt data collected for 137 individuals, we investigated the adaptive significance of pre-breeding molt timing as a sexual signal under (near) genetic monogamy. Molt timing varied between and within individuals with age and climate: molt was completed earlier in older males and after wetter years. Despite its potential to act as a sexual signal of male quality, fitness benefits and costs of early molt appear limited: molt timing did not correlate with 1) the likelihood of gaining a breeding position; 2) female mate preference (EPP/cuckoldry, divorce); 3) female reproductive investment (breeding timing, clutch size, number of clutches); 4) breeding performance (hatching success, fledging success, fledgling survival, annual reproductive success); and 5) male survival. However, although molt timing did not predict which subordinates would become breeders, breeders molted earlier than subordinates. The lack of EPP in this species might imply relaxed sexual selection on early molt with potential to lead to trait disappearance.
- Pre-breeding moult data from male purple-crowned fairy-wrensThe data file includes pre-breeding moult profiles of male purple-crowned fairy-wrens based on plumage colouration scores collected in the field over a six-year period, as well as life-history-related information for each individual.Male_Moult_Database.csvPre-breeding moult and breeding data from male purple-crowned fairy-wrensThe data file includes information on pre-breeding moult and breeding activity of male purple-crowned fairy-wrens collected in the field over a six-year period.Breeding_Database.csvPre-breeding moult and social improvement data from male purple-crowned fairy-wrensThe data file includes information on within-individual social improvement, aging and associated variation in pre-breeding moult timing in male purple-crowned fairy-wrens, based on data collected in the field over a six-year period.Social improvement_Moult.csvPre-breeding moult and gain of dominance data from male purple-crowned fairy-wrensThe data file includes data on individual pre-breeding moult timing and the outcome of competitions for a dominance position in male purple-crowned fairy-wrens, collected in the field over a six-year period.Dom Acq_Comparison_Moult.csvPre-breeding moult and divorce data from male purple-crowned fairy-wrensThe data file includes data on pre-breeding moult timing and the outcome of divorces in male purple-crowned fairy-wrens, collected in the field over a six-year period.Divorce_Comparison_Moult.csvPre-breeding moult and rainfall data in male purple-crowned fairy-wrensThe data file includes information on pre-breeding moult completion and rainfall in associated years for male purple-crowned fairy-wrens, collected in the field over an 11-year period.Rainfall_Moult.csv