IDEA   23902
INSTITUTO DE DIVERSIDAD Y ECOLOGIA ANIMAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Genetic evidence of extra-pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism in the monk parakeet
Autor/es:
MARTÍNEZ JUAN JOSÉ; DE ARANZAMENDI MARÍA CARLA; MASELLO JUAN; BUCHER ENRIQUE H
Revista:
FRONTIERS IN ZOOLOGY
Editorial:
BIOMED CENTRAL LTD
Referencias:
Lugar: Londres; Año: 2013 p. 1 - 7
ISSN:
1742-9994
Resumen:
Abstract
Introduction:
The monk parakeet (
Myiopsitta monachus
) is a widespread invasive species native to southern South
America that has become established in many regions of the world. Monk parakeets breed in a large, fully enclosed
structure built from twigs, which consist of one to many individual brooding chambers. The species has been
considered to be socially and genetically monogamous. However, genetic relatedness of adults to juveniles in the
native area was found to be lower than expected for monogamy. To assess the significance of this discrepancy, we
examined individual and population genetic patterns of microsatellite loci at two sites in Córdoba province,
Argentina.
Results:
We sampled 154 nestlings and 42 adults in Córdoba, Argentina. Mean value of pairwise relatedness of
nestlings within chambers was about 0.40. Contrarily, relatedness of nestlings between chambers was close to zero.
We found a considerable degree of variation in nestling pairwise relatedness and parentage within chambers,
including chambers with combinations of unrelated, half-sib, and full-sib nestlings. The proportion of sibling
relatedness indicated monogamy in 47% and extra pair-paternity in 40% of the chambers. We also found intra-brood
parasitism in 3% of the chambers.
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that the monk parakeet is sexually polygamous in its native range in Argentina,
which is consistent with the observed mean value of relatedness of adults to juveniles of about 0.4. We also confirm
the existence of intra-brood parasitism. High density of monk parakeets may favor occurrence of extra-pair paternity
and intra-brood parasitism in the native sites.
Keywords:
Parrots, Extra-pair paternity, Intra-brood parasitism, Breeding biology, Argentina