gmr044@leah.Albany.Edu (Gregg Recer) (09/11/90)
In article <151022@felix.UUCP> reynolds@felix.UUCP (David Lee Reynolds) writes: ..... various things regarding doves/pigeons deleted... > This meaning that the dove and >pigeon is monogynous, and will only look for a new mate upon the death of the ^^^^^^^^^^ >current one. Aside from the picky point that the word for having only one mate is _monogamous_, (monogynous would, I guess, mean having only one female mate) it's worth noting that the idealized view of monogamy in many species is falling apart the more people make a systematic effort to look at this question. Traditionally species like canada geese and bald eagles, for example, were thought to fit this mold; individuals would mate with only one partner until separated by death. A lot of passerine species are usually thought to be monogamous within a nesting season. No doubt many species have a majority of mated pairs who attempt to get no other matings (extra-pair copulations as they're termed). However, when people have looked, in many cases where monogamy was thought to be the rule some portion of the population can be attempting to gain extra-pair matings. Often in birds this may only amount to some extra-pair solicitations by females or some attempts by males to cuckhold another male. These efforts may or may not be successful but there can be selective advantage to attempt to get such extra-pair copulations. If females mate with more than one male they may get parental care help from both males (matings with more than one male can lead to mixed paternity in the insueing brood -- this is referred to as sperm competition). This can allow the female to raise a second clutch easier or might improve her over-winter survivorship since she doesn't have to work as hard raising her clutch. Also, nestling survivorship can be increased when three adults provision the nest instead of two. Males who get extra-pair copulations have the opportunity to father more offspring. This kind of thing is being seen a lot more now that DNA-finger-printing and similar techniques are in fairly common use among ecologists. A year or so ago a woman gave a seminar here concerning supposed monogamy in a desert rodent species. Her research showed mixed paternity in many broods in her study population. When someone asked if she thought there were any truly monogamous species she said she didn't think so. After a short pause she added "except maybe people". Now that's _really_ idealizing things :). Gregg ******************************************************************************* "In future you should delete the words crunchy frog and replace them with the legend crunchy raw unboned real dead frog!!" -- Inspector Bradshaw, The Hygiene Division *******************************************************************************