TY  - JOUR
AB  - Evolutionary theory predicts that females seek extra-pair fertilisations from high-quality males. In socially monogamous bird species, it is often old males that are most successful in extra-pair fertilisations. Adaptive models of female extra-pair mate choice suggest that old males may produce offspring of higher genetic quality than young males because they have proven their survivability. However, old males are also more likely to show signs of reproductive senescence, such as reduced sperm quality. To better understand why old males account for a disproportionally large number of extra-pair offspring and what the consequences of mating with old males are, we compared several sperm traits of both captive and wild house sparrows, Passer domesticus. Sperm morphological traits and cloacal protuberance volume (a proxy for sperm load) of old and young males did not differ substantially. However, old males delivered almost three times more sperm to the female's egg than young males. We discuss the possibility of a post-copulatory advantage for old over young males and the consequences for females mated with old males
DA  - 2019
DO  - 10.1111/jeb.13542
KW  - extra‐pair paternity     gamete selection     internal fertilization     multiple mating     polygamy     sperm competition
LA  - eng
IS  - 12
M2  - 1432
PY  - 2019
SN  - 1010-061x
SP  - 1432-1443
T2  - Journal of evolutionary biology
TI  - Male age and its association with reproductive traits in captive and wild house sparrows.
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0070-pub-29375784
Y2  - 2024-11-22T03:11:22
ER  -