Extrapair Paternity and Sexual Selection in Socially Monogamous Birds: Are Tropical Birds Different?
[摘要] Despite the widely recognized lack of empirical data, tropical species are generally considered to have lower rates of EPP than temperate species. For example,
Stutchbury and Morton (2001:39) stated that "while extra-pair mating systems are the norm for temperate zone passerines, this is not true for tropical birds." If this is true, a lower rate of EPP in tropical systems has important implications for our understanding of the role of EPP in sexual selection and of the ecological and life-history factors that drive interspecific variation in EPP. Here, we critically review the evidence and conclude that general statements about the relative frequency of EPP in tropical birds are premature, given the small amount of data currently available, as well as the breadth of life histories and habitat types encompassed in the tropics. We argue that rigorous studies of EPP in both tropical and temperate systems will lead to a better understanding of the ecological causes and evolutionary consequences of these mating patterns and the operation of sexual selection (see also
Stutchbury and Morton 2001,
2008). Indeed, there are good theoretical reasons to expect EPP rates to be lower in at least some tropical systems, and a comparison of temperate and tropical systems could shed considerable light on the factors driving variation in EPP across populations.
