大山雀的婚外父权调查

婚配制度作为一种进化稳定对策是动物对某一环境包括种群内部环境适应的结果,在动物生殖过程中具有重要意义.大山雀(Parus major)是一种广域分布物种,研究显示广域分布物种的形态、生理、行为、生态特征及婚配制度在不同地区或种群间存在显著差异,因此,该文选择了分布于中国辽宁仙人洞国家级自然保护区的大山雀(P.m.minor)种群开展其婚配制度研究.野外共采集了22巢大山雀亲代和子代血液样本.结果如下:(1)从11个微卫星位点中筛选出了8个多态性较好的微卫星位点用于大山雀父权鉴定,在母本已知的情况下确定父权的准确率可达99.98％;(2)巢内父权鉴定结果显示,31.8％ (7/22)的巢包含婚外父权,8.12％ (16/197)的子代为婚外子代.与其他森林雀形目鸟类相比,大山雀婚外子代的比例明显偏低(＜10％),每个存在婚外父权巢的婚外子代比例各异(55.6％～9.1％),且无明显规律.

Extrapair paternity in Parus major

Mating systems, as an evolutionary stable strategy, play an important role in animal reproductive process and result from an animal’s adaption to their environment, including their inter-specific environment. In the 1980s, extrapair paternity (EPP) was first noted in the eurychoric species, the Great Tit, Parus major. As earlier studies indicated, morphology, physiology, behavior, ecological characteristics and mating systems of eurychoric species differ greatly between areas or populations. Accordingly, we analyzed the mating system of the Great Tit (P.m.minor) in Fairy Cave National Nature Reserve, Liaoning, China. We collected total parent-offspring blood samples from 22 broods. We used 8 hypervariable loci, which were selected from 11 reported microsatellite loci for paternity test. In conjunction with the known genetic pattern of the female parent, the accuracy of the paternity testing reached 99.98% with this genetic data. Results of paternity testing showed that 7 of 22 broods (31.8%) had extra-pair nestling, with 16 of 197 nestlings (8.12%) a result of extra-pair fertilizations. The EPP rate of the Great Tit we noted in Liaoning is obviously lower than those in other passerine forest birds (less than 10%). Though between 55.6% and 9.1% extrapair offspring were found among the different nests, we were, however, unable to find any explanatory rule.