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International audience; Recent developments in telomere and cancer evolutionary ecology demonstrate a very complex relationship between the need of tissue repair and controlling the emergence of abnormally proliferating cells. The trade-off is balanced by natural and sexual selection and mediated via both intrinsic and environmental factors. Here, we explore the effects of telomere-cancer dynamics on life history traits and strategies as well as on the cumulative effects of genetic and environmental factors. We show that telomere-cancer dynamics constitute an incredibly complex and multifaceted process. From research to date, it appears that the relationship between telomere length and cancer risk is likely nonlinear with good evidence that both (too) long and (too) short telomeres can be associated with increased cancer risk. The ability and propensity of organisms to respond to the interplay of telomere dynamics and oncogenic processes, depends on the combination of its tissue environments, life history strategies, environmental challenges (i.e., extreme climatic conditions), pressure by predators and pollution, as well as its evolutionary history. Consequently, precise interpretation of telomere-cancer dynamics requires integrative and multidisciplinary approaches. Finally, incorporating information on telomere dynamics and the expression of tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes could potentially provide the synergistic overview that could lay the foundations to study telomere-cancer dynamics at ecosystem levels.

The microbiome is important for many functions in animals, for example digestion, skin health and communication. Microbiome and immune system interactions are especially interesting in relation to possible odour signalling. For birds, the feather microbiome is still mostly unknown and studies on the microbiome and immune system interactions are few. In this thesis I have investigated feathers from two different body areas of social pairs of bluethroats (Luscinia svecica), feathers surrounding the preen gland and feathers surrounding the cloaca. Microbial composition was analysed by sequencing the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA fragment. Firstly, I investigated if there were differences in microbial diversity for different sexes, ages, and feather areas. Secondly, I investigated if observed dissimilarity of microbial diversity in pairs would differ from random expectations. Lastly, I investigated associations between microbiome diversity and MHC allele diversity. I did not find any significant differences in microbial diversity between sexes, age-classes, or feather areas. No evidence was found that microbial dissimilarity in pairs differed from expected values based on random mating. However, I did find a positive correlation between the microbiome dissimilarity in pairs and MHC in preen feathers. There is a good possibility that the feather microbiome in the bluethroat plays a role between the sexes and MHC-based mate-choice.

In many animals, decision-making is influenced by social learning, i.e. the acquisition of insights through the observation of other individuals' behaviours. In cases where such socially obtained information conflicts with personally acquired knowledge, animals must weigh up one form of information against the other. Previous studies have found that individual animals differ consistently in how they trade-off socially versus personally acquired knowledge, but why this is so remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate whether an animal's cognitive profile affects its decision to use either prior personal or new, conflicting social information, using the Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus) as our model species. We trained lizards to associate one of two colour cues with food, and subsequently allowed them to observe a conspecific trained for the opposite colour. After social demonstrations, lizards overall tended to use the 'fake', non-rewarding social information, but some individuals were more likely to do so than others. Lizards that showed faster spatial learning were more likely to copy social information even in the presence of reliable previous knowledge. Our study highlights the existence of significant inter-individual variation in social learning in a lizard, possibly mirroring variation in cognitive abilities. Significance statement Animals often use social information in daily decision-making. Whenever knowledge obtained through personal experience conflicts with observations of decisions made by conspecifics, individuals must weigh these two types of information against each other. Individuals tend to differ in whether they prioritize social versus private information, but why this is so, remains poorly understood. Using lizards, we tested whether an animal's cognitive profile affects its decision to use either prior personal or new, conflicting social information. We found considerable variation among individuals in social information use and tendency to rely on personal or public knowledge. Specifically, faster spatial learners inclined to copy social information, even in the presence of reliable previous knowledge, suggesting that intrinsic, cognitive aspects influence how individuals trade-off public and private information.

Cognitive abilities may be crucial for individuals to respond appropriately to their social and natural environment, thereby increasing fitness. However, the role of cognitive traits in sexual selection has received relatively little attention. Here, we studied 1) whether male secondary sexual traits (colour, courtship, and nest) reflect their cognitive ability, 2) whether females choose mates based on males' and their own cognitive abilities, and 3) how the interplay between secondary sexual traits and cognitive ability determines male attractiveness in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculetaus). For this, we first evaluated the cognitive ability of sexually mature males and females in a detour-reaching task. Then, female preference was repeatedly assessed in a dichotomous-choice test, where the female was exposed to two males with contrasting performances (relatively good and bad) in the detour-reaching task. Female preference for better performing males was affected by the female's own cognitive ability. Females with relatively medium-low cognitive ability preferred males with high ability, whereas females with high ability showed no preference. We also found that males with higher cognitive abilities built more elaborated nests, but showed weaker red nuptial colouration. To our knowledge, this is among the first results that illustrate how cognitive traits of both sexes influence female mate preference, which has implications for the strength and direction of sexual selection., Cognition may aid in the development of behavioral sexual displays, thereby contributing to mating success. In this study, female sticklebacks with relatively low cognitive ability preferred mating with males with better cognitive ability, while those with high ability did not have preference for smart males. Male’s cognitive ability was positively related to nest structure but negatively related to nuptial color. Our results show the complex interplay between secondary sexual traits and cognitive ability in sexual selection.

Choosing an appropriate sexual partner is a critical decision for many animal species. However, many mechanisms involved in mate choice are still poorly understood. Do both males and females choose their sexual partners, do both sexes use the same criteria for choosing, and do their own phenotype influence the choices they make, are questions that need further investigation. Over two successive experiments conducted in captivity with hand-reared blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), we manipulated the color of the chest plumage, a secondary sexual trait that reflects an individual’s condition, to create two different color morphs (one pale and one colored). We then tested whether both sexes express a preference, whether they are attracted to the same morphs, and if the subjects’ own chest color influences the preference they show. Our data reveal that both sexes are choosy, with females tending to be slightly choosier than males. We also show that both sexes preferentially select individuals with a pale chest plumage over colorful individuals, and this was again more pronounced in females. Finally, paler individuals tend to be selected by birds that are themselves pale, even if this phenotype matching was not very robust. Such a preference for paler individuals is intriguing because mates are predicted to associate with individuals displaying higher, not lower, value of quality signals. It could result from adaptive mechanisms related to avoidance of aggressiveness in a confined environment, avoidance of conflicting sexual signals within individuals, or from cultural mechanisms leading to a preference for individuals that match its own phenotype.

The perception of attractiveness is an evolutionary sexual adaptation of the human species to ensure the selection of high genetic quality mates, in light of sexual selection theory. Thus, opposite-sex judgements of attractiveness should be fairly consistent, and higher for certain characteristics (displayed by high-quality individuals). However, specifically in the case of male physical attractiveness literature, there seems to be great variability in the results. With the aim of providing a clearer picture of what is presently known about women’s physical preferences in men, we explored eight particularly relevant traits of male physical attractiveness: facial averageness, symmetry, sexual dimorphism of shape, colour and facial hair; body type (including muscularity and relevant ratios), hair and relative height. Through a meta-analytic review, we found that: 1) facial averageness and symmetry, waist-to-chest ratio, and height were important predictors of male attractiveness; 2) inconclusive results were found for sexual dimorphism of shape; 3) skin colour and facial hair are relevant factors in attractiveness and need future research; and 4) body hair seems less relevant than other traits. We then present a discussion about the noticeable variability of the literature in the light of evolutionary theory and recent genetics research, and propose that male physical attractiveness may be secondary to behavioural aspects in judgements of attractiveness. Segundo a teoria da seleção natural, a perceção de atratividade é uma adaptação sexual evolutiva da espécie humana para garantir a seleção de parceiros de alta qualidade genética. Consequentemente, julgamentos de atratividade feitos por indivíduos do sexo oposto deveriam ser consistentes, e mais elevados para determinadas caraterísticas (que fossem exibidas por indivíduos de alta qualidade genética). No entanto, especificamente na literatura relativa aos julgamentos sobre a atratividade masculina, existe uma grande variedade nos resultados. Com a intenção de clarificar aquilo que atualmente se sabe sobre as preferências das mulheres por características físicas nos homens, explorámos oito características físicas particularmente relevantes para a perceção de atratividade masculina relativamente à face – ‘cara média’, simetria, dimorfismo sexual da forma, cor e distribuição de pêlo – e ao corpo – tipo (incluindo musculatura e rácios relevantes), distribuição de pêlo e altura relativa. Através de uma revisão meta-analítica, verificámos que: 1) a ‘cara média’, simetria facial, rácio cintura-peito e altura aparentam ser importantes preditores de atratividade masculina; 2) resultados inconclusivos foram encontrados para o papel do dimorfismo sexual na forma da face; 3) a cor da pele da face e a distribuição de pêlo facial são características aparentemente relevantes para a atratividade e requerem estudo futuro; 4) a distribuição de pêlo no corpo parece ser menos relevante que outras características. Por fim, apresentamos uma discussão sobre a grande variabilidade da literatura neste campo à luz da teoria evolutiva e descobertas recentes da genética, e propomos que a atratividade física nos homens poderá ser secundária a aspetos comportamentais. Mestrado em Psicologia da Saúde e Reabilitação Neuropsicológica

Nests play a critical role for offspring development across the animal kingdom. Nest quality may contribute to the builder's extended phenotype and serve as an ornament during mate choice. We examined male and female nest choice in the common goby (Pomatoschistus microps), a benthic fish with male-only parental care where females deposit eggs in male-built nests. Using prebuilt nest models, we independently manipulated two candidate nest quality traits: (a) nest entrance width with a role in oxygen ventilation, and (b) extent of sand cover with a role in camouflage. In simultaneous choice trials, male gobies exhibited no preference for any nest model type. This suggests that initial characteristics of a nesting substrate have minor importance for males, which usually remodel the nest. Females were given a choice between two males occupying either entrance- or cover-manipulated nests. The same pair of males was then exposed to a second female but now with alternated nest types assigned. Most females were consistent in choosing the same, typically the heavier male of the two regardless of nest properties. However, the females that chose the same nest regardless of the male preferred low over high sand coverage and narrow over wide nest entrance. Our results indicate that females base their mating decision on a combination of male phenotype and nest traits. While we found no indication that females are attracted to highly decorated nests, our study is the first in fishes to disentangle a preference for narrow (and thus more protective) nest entrances independent of nest coverage.

Video playback provides a promising method to study social interactions, and the number of video playback experiments has been growing in recent years. Using videos has advantages over live individuals as it increases the repeatability of demonstrations, and enables researchers to manipulate the features of the presented stimulus. How observers respond to video playback might, however, differ among species, and the efficacy of video playback should be validated by investigating if individuals’ responses to videos are comparable to their responses to live demonstrators. Here, we use a novel foraging task to compare blue tits’ (Cyanistes caeruleus) responses to social information from a live conspecific vs video playback. Birds first received social information about the location of food, and were then presented with a three-choice foraging task where they could search for food from locations marked with different symbols (cross, square, plain white). Two control groups saw only a foraging tray with similar symbols but no information about the location of food. We predicted that socially educated birds would prefer the same location where a demonstrator had foraged, but we found no evidence that birds copied a demonstrator’s choice, regardless of how social information was presented. Social information, however, had an influence on blue tits’ foraging choices, as socially educated birds seemed to form a stronger preference for a square symbol (against two other options, cross and plain white) than the control birds. Our results suggest that blue tits respond to video playback of a conspecific similarly as to a live bird, but how they use this social information in their foraging decisions, remains unclear.

During their lives animals constantly need to make decisions that influence their survival and their reproductive success. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate the role of two variability sources in decision-making — personality and emotional states — in a sexual context in a monogamous fish, the convict cichlid. Our work about personality highlights its importance on pair compatibility and reproductive success. We also observe that reactive individuals adjusted their behaviour to their partner and thus increased their reproductive fitness. This result supports the hypothesis that reactive individuals are more flexible and thus compensate for their weak competitiveness.Personality traits are thus to be considered as co-existing alternative strategies. The maintenance of this inter-individual variability can be results from their equal success on the long run. Emotional states are source of intra-individual variability that has been largely underestimate. However they may represent an internal information used by individuals to make choice. We developed a protocol of cognitive judgment bias test in fish to evaluate their emotional states, and we observed a strong relationship with the presence/absence of the preferred partner. These results suggest that emotions is a key component of pair-bonding and then question how animals use them to make decision. Do they choose a partner based on their emotional states in an adaptive way? Through these different studies, we have shown that behavioural variability is not randomly distributed. On the contrary, it is linked to different strategies and it can influence reproductive success. It is thus crucial to take this parameter into account in order to understand the evolution of decision processes., Au cours de leur vie, les animaux doivent sans cesse prendre des décisions qui impactent leur survie et leur succès reproducteur. L’objectif de cette thèse était d’étudier le rôle de deux sources de variabilité dans la prise de décision — la personnalité et l’état émotionnel — en contexte sexuel chez un poisson monogame, le cichlidé zébré. Nos travaux sur la personnalité ont mis en évidence son importance sur la compatibilité comportementale et le succès reproducteur des partenaires. De plus, les individus les plus réactifs se sont ajustés à leur partenaire et ont augmenté leur succès reproducteur. Ceci supporte l’hypothèse d’une plus grande flexibilité de ces individus qui compenseraient ainsi leur faible compétitivité. Les différents profils de personnalité peuvent ainsi être considérés comme des stratégies alternatives. Le maintien de la variabilité interindividuelle pourrait ainsi s’expliquer par le succès équivalent de ces stratégies. Les émotions sont, elles, une cause de variabilité intra-individuelle souvent négligée qui pourrait pourtant représenter une information interne utilisée par l’individu pour prendre ses décisions. En transposant le test cognitif du biais de jugement aux poissons, nous avons pu observer un lien étroit entre leur état émotionnel et la présence/absence du partenaire. Ces résultats suggèrent un rôle des émotions dans les processus d’appariement et interrogent sur leur utilisation dans les prises de décision. Les individus se basent-ils sur leurs émotions pour choisir un partenaire ? Est-ce adaptatif ? À travers l’étude de ces sources de variabilité comportementale, nous avons observé que, loin d’être distribuée aléatoirement, la variabilité était liée à des stratégies décisionnelles et pouvait influencer le succès reproducteur des individus. Il serait donc crucial de la prendre en compte pour appréhender l’évolution des processus décisionnels.

International audience; The large body of theory on speciation with gene flow has brought to light fundamental differences in the effects of two types of mating rules on speciation: preference/trait rules, in which divergence in both (female) preferences and (male) mating traits is necessary for assortment, and matching rules, in which individuals mate with like individuals on the basis of the presence of traits or alleles that they have in common. These rules can emerge from a variety of behavioral or other mechanisms in ways that are not always obvious. We discuss the theoretical properties of both types of rules and explain why speciation is generally thought to be more likely under matching rather than preference/trait rules. We furthermore discuss whether specific assortative mating mechanisms fall under a preference/trait or matching rule, present empirical evidence for these mechanisms, and propose empirical tests that could distinguish between them. The synthesis of the theoretical literature on these assortative mating rules with empirical studies of the mechanisms by which they act can provide important insights into the occurrence of speciation with gene flow. Finally, by providing a clear framework we hope to inspire greater alignment in the ways that both theoreticians and empiricists study mating rules and how these rules affect speciation through maintaining or eroding barriers to gene flow among closely related species or populations.

The factors influencing human female facial attractiveness&mdash, symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism&mdash, have been extensively studied. However, recent studies, using improved methodologies, have called into question their evolutionary utility and links with life history. The current studies use a range of approaches to quantify how important these factors actually are in perceiving attractiveness, through the use of novel statistical analyses and by addressing methodological weaknesses in the literature. Study One examines how manipulations of symmetry, averageness, femininity, and masculinity affect attractiveness using a two-alternative forced choice task, finding that increased masculinity and also femininity decrease attractiveness, compared to unmanipulated faces. Symmetry and averageness yielded a small and large effect, respectively. Study Two utilises a naturalistic ratings paradigm, finding similar effects of averageness and masculinity as Study One but no effects of symmetry and femininity on attractiveness. Study Three applies geometric face measurements of the factors and a random forest machine learning algorithm to predict perceived attractiveness, finding that shape averageness, dimorphism, and skin texture symmetry are useful features capable of relatively accurate predictions, while shape symmetry is uninformative. However, the factors do not explain as much variance in attractiveness as the literature suggests. The implications for future research on attractiveness are discussed.

S’approvisionner en nourriture est essentiel à la survie et au succès reproducteur. Lorsque les animaux font face à des changements environnementaux brutaux, ils doivent s’ajuster rapidement à leur nouvel environnement et parfois même innover dans leur façon de s’approvisionner. Des processus comportementaux et cognitifs, tels que l’innovation et l’apprentissage, permettent aux animaux d'intégrer de nouveaux comportements à leur répertoire comportemental afin de s'adapter de façon optimale. Les performances cognitives varient entre les individus d’une même population et bien que des études récentes se soient intéressées aux causes de ce phénomène, de convaincantes évidences sont manquantes afin d’expliquer pourquoi ces variations sont maintenues. Au cours de ce mémoire, les questions des pressions de sélection s'exerçant sur les performances d’alimentation par une tâche motrice nouvelle sont abordées afin de mieux comprendre l'évolution des capacités cognitives au sein d'une population captive de diamants mandarins (Taeniopygia guttata). Nous avons tout d'abord testé si les femelles diamants mandarins modifient leurs préférences d'accouplement après avoir observé la performance d'alimentation par une tâche motrice nouvelle des mâles. Afin de déterminer si les femelles sont capables de discriminer entre les mâles sur la base de leur capacité cognitive, nous avons également évalué les performances d’apprentissage de chacune d’elles. En effet, des études ont suggéré qu’il peut être coûteux, spécialement en terme de temps, de discriminer entre des partenaires potentiels sur cette base. La généralisation d’une préférence pour un mâle performant à d’autres mâles possédant le même phénotype permettrait la réduction de ces coûts. Nous avons donc finalement testé si les femelles diamants mandarins peuvent généraliser leur préférence après avoir observé les performances d’alimentation pour une tâche motrice nouvelle d’un mâle. Nos résultats suggèrent que les femelles diamants mandarins ne peuvent évaluer les capacités cognitives d’un mâle par l’intermédiaire de traits indicateurs. Toutefois, nous avons démontré qu’une observation directe des performances d’alimentation d’un mâle guide le choix d’appariement des femelles. Également, nous avons montré que les femelles peuvent généraliser l’apparence du mâle le plus performant et utiliser cette information lors de l’évaluation de nouveaux mâles. La relation entre les performances cognitives et le choix de partenaire pourraient s’expliquer par exemple par une meilleure exploitation de l’habitat, mais nécessite des études plus approfondies., Successful foraging is essential for survival and reproductive success. When animals face rapidly change due to climate change or anthropogenic habitat destruction, they are force to quickly adjust their behaviour such as foraging. Innovation and learning, two processes related to cognitive functions, are know to allow animals to incorporate novel behaviours into their behavioural repertoires and thus to facilitate optimal responses to environmental change. Cognitive performance vary between and within individuals and although several studies have rencently addressed the causes, convicing evidences for why inter-individual variations in cognitive performance are maintained in a population are still lacking. During my Masters, I investigated different selective pressures acting on foraging performance on a novel motor task to better understand the evolution of cognitive abilities in a captive population of zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Firstly, we investigated whether female zebra finches modify their mating preferences after having observed the foraging performance of males on a novel motor task. We also assessed each bird’s learning performance in a color associative task in order to check whether females could discriminate between the two males based on their learning performance. Discriminating among mates based on their cognitive ability might be very costly for females, especially in terms of time. Therefore, one way to reduce the cost of assessing mate would be to generalize their preferences to any male with the same phenotype as the most efficient observed individual. We finaly investigated whether female zebra finches can generalize their mating preferences after having observed a male’s foraging performance on a novel motor task. Our findings suggest that female zebra finches would be unable to assess male cognitive ability indirectly via morphological traits. However our results demonstrate that direct observation of the males’ performance on a foraging task can guide female mating preferences. We also demonstrates that female zebra finches can generalize the appearance of the male that is the most efficient at solving a motor task and then use this information to assessing new males. The relationship between cognitive performance and mating preference might be mediated throught habitat exploitation for example, but requires further investigation.

Sexual selection is a key evolutionary mechanism that is based on differential reproductive success among individuals. Sexual selection drives evolution of sexual dimorphism and secondary sexual traits. These traits are often of ornamental character and may function as indicators of individual quality and viability in mate-choice. Ornamental traits may signal viability in two ways: either directly, when their expression reflects body condition and ornament predicts the probability of future survival; or indirectly, if their expression is age-dependent and intense ornament express only individuals that proved the ability to survive to old age. Ornament expression may also decline in old age, however, as a result of negative effect of senescence. The aim of my thesis was to assess, whether, and which, ornaments signal individual age and survival in free-ranging vertebrates with determinate growth and whether is ornament expression affected by senescence.

We investigate the role of parasite-mediated sexual selection in the divergence of two species of Lake Victoria cichlids. Pundamilia pundamilia and Pundamilia nyererei represent a common pattern of male nuptial colour divergence between haplochromine sister species: metallic grey-blue in P. pundamilia and bright yellow and red in P. nyererei. Female mating preferences for different male colours maintain the genetic and phenotypic differentiation of the two species in clear water. Previous work indicated that the red coloration of P. nyererei males, which is subject to directional sexual selection, may be a carotenoid-dependent signal of parasite infestation rate. In the present study, we find a parallel result for P. pundamilia: bright blue males are infected with fewer species of parasites. We also find that parasite infestation rates differ quantitatively between the two species in a way that is consistent with species differences in diet and microhabitat. We conclude that parasite-mediated sexual selection may have contributed to the divergence of female mating preferences between P. pundamilia and P. nyererei, and may currently strengthen reproductive isolation between these species. (C) 2008 The Linnean Society of London.

It is well understood that females may gain direct benefits from breeding with attractive males. However, the direct fitness effects of mate-choice are rarely considered with respect to mating between different species (hybridization), a field dominated by discussion of indirect costs of producing unfit hybrid offspring. Hybridizing females may also gain by the types of direct benefits that are important for intraspecific mate choice, and in addition may have access to certain benefits that are restricted to mating with males of an ecologically diverged sister-taxon. We investigate possible direct benefits and costs female Ficedula flycatchers gain from breeding with a heterospecific male, and demonstrate that hybridizing female collared flycatchers (F. albicollis) breed in territories that do not suffer the seasonal decline in habitat quality experienced by females breeding with conspecifics. We exclude the hypotheses that heterospecific males provide alternative food-types or assume a greater amount of the parental workload. In fact, the diets of the two species (F. albicollis and F. hypoleuca) were highly similar, suggesting possible interspecific competition over food resources in sympatry. We discuss the implications of direct fitness effects of hybridization, and why there has been such a disparity in the attention paid to such benefits and costs with regard to intraspecific and interspecific mate-choice.

In many species carotenoid-based ornaments plays fundamental role in sexual selection. It is believed that carotenoid-based ornaments act as indicators of individual quality and condition during mate-choice, as associations between their expression, individual fintess and various condition indicators were observed. Despite the long-term research, mechanisms ensuring signalling honesty remain unknown. Currently, the most accepted hypothesis suggests antioxidant properties of carotenoids, and, therefore, a trade-off between their allocation to ornamentation or defence against free radicals. The antioxidant function of carotenoids in vivo was challenged in birds, however, and alternative hypotheses were proposed, assuming either carotenoid loss due to free-radical oxidation, or harmful (pro- oxidant) effects of high carotenoid levels in the body, or interconnection of metabolic pathways for both, the carotenoid conversion and homeostatic control of mitochondrial respiration and redox state. These hypotheses assume differing allocation of carotenoids under elevated oxidative stress, which we tested using experimental manipulations of oxidative state and carotenoid intake in adult male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). The results are inconsistent with all the alternative hypotheses, but partly...

Background Single-locus complementary sex determination (sl-CSD), which occurs in some insects of the order Hymenoptera, imposes a heavy genetic load that can drive small populations to extinction. The core process in these species is the development of individuals homozygous at the sex-determining locus into unfit diploid males. The risk of extinction of populations with sl-CSD is theoretically much higher if diploid males are viable and capable of mating but sterile, because diploid males then decrease the reproductive output of both their parents and the females with which they mate. Results In the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), diploid males resembled their haploid counterparts in most respects, but their mating success was nevertheless lower than that of haploid males, especially when the two types of males were placed in competition. Furthermore, although diploid males transferred viable sperm during copulation, they sired no daughters: the females with which they mated produced only sons, like virgin females. A simulation model combining behavior, genetics and demography demonstrated that for two alternative hypotheses concerning the fertilization success of diploid sperm, the mating success of diploid males strongly affected population dynamics. Conclusion The performance of diploid males should be estimated in competitive situations. It is a crucial determinant of the probability of extinction. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12898-014-0032-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The vast majority of bird species build a nest in which to breed. Some species build more than one nest, but the function of most multiple nest-building remains unclear. Here we describe the unusual nest-building behaviour of the Australian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus australis, and test experimentally the hypotheses that multiple nest-building is related to individual condition or territory quality, and plays a role in mate assessment. Australian Reed Warblers built two types of nest structures: 'type I' nests, which were used for eggs and nestlings, and 'type II' nests, which were structurally distinct from type I nests, did not support eggs, nestlings or adults and were not essential for successful breeding. The number of type II nests built in each territory varied. Type II nests were only built before breeding had commenced in a territory and females were not observed participating in their construction, supporting a role in female mate choice. Birds provided with supplementary food built significantly more type II nests than control birds. However, supplementary-fed birds did not have greater pairing success, and the addition of further type II nests to territories did not increase the pairing rate or type II nest construction in those territories. There was no relationship between the presence of type II nests and either reproductive success or likelihood of nest predation. We discuss the implications of these results in light of previous suggestions regarding the function of multiple nest-building in birds.

The breeding biology of the cave-dwelling Mediterranean triplefin blenny Tripterygion melanurus (Pisces, Blennioidei) was studied in the field. Two types of reproductive male were observed, territorial males and non-territorial males. Territorial males establish territories for mating, but not necessarily for feeding, in caves and crevices at depths between 0.5 and 33 m. Territories can be settled in clusters in a single cave. Non-territorial males occur in the vicinity of territories and attempt to parasitise matings of territorial males. Gravid females wait near territories where another female is spawning, rather than spawn with currently unmated territorial males. Waiting females intrude in matings and sometimes displace a spawning female. The frequency of mating of the territorial male, of sneaking and of female intrusions are higher in territories that border others than in isolated territories. Females may minimise predation risks both on themselves and on their eggs by spawning in clustered territories and by spawning with males that have more than one clutch of eggs. Territorial males must find a compromise between the benefits of attracting a female and the costs of parasitic spawning by sneaker males. The possibility that territorial males tolerate the proximity of other territorial males and accept a risk of cuckoldry is discussed. Parasitic spawning in T melanurus is relatively rare and the gonadosomatic index in both non-territorial and territorial males is low, indicating that sperm competition is probably not intense.

The breeding biology of the cave-dwelling Mediterranean triplefin blenny Tripterygion melanurus (Pisces, Blennioidei) was studied in the field. Two types of reproductive male were observed, territorial males and non-territorial males. Territorial males establish territories for mating, but not necessarily for feeding, in caves and crevices at depths between 0.5 and 33 m. Territories can be settled in clusters in a single cave. Non-territorial males occur in the vicinity of territories and attempt to parasitise matings of territorial males. Gravid females wait near territories where another female is spawning, rather than spawn with currently unmated territorial males. Waiting females intrude in matings and sometimes displace a spawning female. The frequency of mating of the territorial male, of sneaking and of female intrusions are higher in territories that border others than in isolated territories. Females may minimise predation risks both on themselves and on their eggs by spawning in clustered territories and by spawning with males that have more than one clutch of eggs. Territorial males must find a compromise between the benefits of attracting a female and the costs of parasitic spawning by sneaker males. The possibility that territorial males tolerate the proximity of other territorial males and accept a risk of cuckoldry is discussed. Parasitic spawning in T melanurus is relatively rare and the gonadosomatic index in both non-territorial and territorial males is low, indicating that sperm competition is probably not intense.

Inbreeding depression results from mating among genetically related individuals and impairs reproductive success. The decrease in male mating success is usually attributed to an impact on multiple fitness-related traits that reduce the general condition of inbred males. Here, we find that the production of the male sex pheromone is reduced significantly by inbreeding in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana . Other traits indicative of the general condition, including flight performance, are also negatively affected in male butterflies by inbreeding. Yet, we unambiguously show that only the production of male pheromones affects mating success. Thus, this pheromone signal informs females about the inbreeding status of their mating partners. We also identify the specific chemical component (hexadecanal) probably responsible for the decrease in male mating success. Our results advocate giving increased attention to olfactory communication as a major causal factor of mate-choice decisions and sexual selection.