Individual quality and personality: bolder males are less fecund in the hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus

One explanation for animal personality is that different behavioural types derive from different life-history strategies. Highly productive individuals, with high growth rates and high fecundity, are assumed to live life at a fast pace showing high levels of boldness and risk taking, compared with less productive individuals. Here, we investigate among-individual differences in mean boldness (the inverse of the latency to recover from a startling stimulus) and in the consistency of boldness, in male hermit crabs in relation to two aspects of life-history investment. We assessed aerobic scope by measuring the concentration of the respiratory pigment haemocyanin, and we assessed fecundity by measuring spermatophore size. First, we found that individuals investing in large spermatophores also had high concentrations of haemocyanin. Using doubly hierarchical-generalized linear models to analyse longitudinal data on startle responses, we show that hermit crabs vary both in their mean response durations and in the consistency of their behaviour. Individual consistency was unrelated to haemocyanin concentration or spermatophore size, but mean startle response duration increased with spermatophore size. Thus, counter to expectations, it was the most risk-averse individuals, rather than the boldest and most risk prone, that were the most productive. We suggest that similar patterns should be present in other species, if the most productive individuals avoid risky behaviour.     

Cross-species amplification of microsatellite primers in passerine birds

Developing species specific microsatellite primers can be avoidedby using existing markers which amplify across species. However,for passerines, such cross-species markers are mostly lackingand few guidelines exist for selecting them from the wide rangeof existing markers. Here cross-species amplification tests of 40microsatellite primers in 13 passerine species show an increasein probability of amplification and polymorphism with decreasingphylogenetic distance. Primers which successfully amplified inmany species had a higher chance to be polymorphic. However,since the amplification success, across a broad range of species,of particular primersets remains difficult to predict it iscrucial to identify such markers empirically. Here we describesuch widely applicable bird (passerines) microsatellite markers.     

Population genetic structure of the common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) in Uganda: evidence for a strong philopatry among warthogs and social structure breakdown in a disturbed population

Fine‐scale genetic structure of large mammals is rarely analysed. Yet it is potentially important in estimating gene flow between the now fragmented wildlife habitats and in predicting re‐colonization following local extinction events. In this study, we examined the extent to which warthog populations from five localities in Uganda are genetically structured using both mitochondrial control region sequence and microsatellite allele length variation. Four of the localities (Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls, Lake Mburo and Kidepo Valley) are national parks with relatively good wildlife protection practices and the other (Luwero), not a protected area, is characterized by a great deal of hunting. In the total sample, significant genetic differentiation was observed at both the mtDNA locus (F_ST = 0.68; P < 0.001) and the microsatellite loci (F_ST = 0.14; P < 0.001). Despite the relatively short geographical distances between populations, significant genetic differentiation was observed in all pair‐wise population comparisons at the two marker sets (mtDNA F_ST = 0.21–0.79, P < 0.001; microsatellite F_ST = 0.074–0.191, P < 0.001). Significant heterozygote deficiency was observed at most loci within protected areas while no significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg expectation was observed in the unprotected Luwero population. We explain these results in terms of: (i) a strong philopatry among warthogs, (ii) a Wahlund effect resulting from the sampling regime and (iii) break down of social structure in the disturbed Luwero population.     

Like mother, like daughter: inheritance of nest-site location in snakes

A trait can be passed from parents to offspring even if it has no genetic basis. For example, if daughters return to reproduce at the same sites where they were hatched themselves, nest-site location is consistent within matrilineages. Most cases of natal homing (nest-site philopatry) across generations have been inferred from molecular evidence rather than directly demonstrated, and involve species with low dispersal abilities. However, some animals disperse long distances but then return to their own place of birth to reproduce, based on cues imprinted early in their own development. Our field studies on tropical natricine snakes (Tropidonophis mairii, Colubridae) show that when they are ready to nest, females return to the sites where their mothers were captured pre-nesting, and where they themselves were released as hatchlings.     

Correlates of complete brood failure in blue tits: could extra‐pair mating provide unexplored benefits to females?

Behavioural ecologists have for decades investigated the adaptive value of extra‐pair copulation (EPC) for females of socially monogamous species. Despite extensive effort testing for genetic benefits, there now seems to be a consensus that the so‐called ‘good genes’ effects are at most weak. In parallel the search for direct benefits has mostly focused on the period surrounding egg laying, thus neglecting potential correlates of EPC that might be expressed at later stages in the breeding cycle. Here we used Bayesian methods to analyse data collected over four years in a population of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus, where no support was previously found for ‘good genes’ effects. We found that broods with mixed paternity experienced less brood failure at the nestling stage than broods with single paternity, and that females having experienced complete brood failure in their previous breeding attempt had higher rates of mixed paternity than either yearling or previously successful females. To better understand these observations we also explored relationships between extra‐pair mating, male and female phenotype, and local breeding density. We found that in almost all cases the sires of extra‐pair offspring were close neighbours, and that within those close neighbourhoods extra‐pair sires were older than other males not siring extra‐pair offspring. Also, females did not display consistent EPC status across years. Taken together our results suggest that multiple mating might be a flexible female behaviour influenced by previous breeding experience, and motivate further experimental tests of causal links between extra‐pair copulation and predation.     

Seventy new microsatellites for the pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca and amplification in other passerine birds

The pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) is a small migratory passerine bird commonly distributed across Europe which has been the focus of considerable ecological and evolutionary research. Here, we present details of 70 microsatellite markers for the species adding to the six which are currently available. Sixty-six markers were also polymorphic in the closely related collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), while 54 were polymorphic in another related passerine, the bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), and 12 were polymorphic in the more distantly related Siberian jay (Perisoreus infaustus).