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Female chickadees living in monogamous mating systems will proactively seek out males that have better cognitive skills than their nestmate, according to new findings.
The research, published today as a Reviewed Preprint in eLife, is described by the editors as an important study using robust genetic analyses and experimental design, providing compelling evidence that females seeking out extra-pair copulations prefer males with strong spatial cognition, and that these males have a reproductive advantage over other males.
Across animal species, females commonly mate with more than one male, even in monogamous mating systems. These so-called extra-pair copulations can increase the fitness of offspring via several mechanisms, including genetic benefits. Understanding the factors that influence choice of mate and the consequences of these decisions on survival and fitness is a central focus of evolutionary biology research.
“When it comes to selecting a mate, females tend to be the ‘choosier’ sex due to their inherent investment. Females seek ‘high-quality’ males to increase the likelihood of successful reproduction, good parental care, and the chance that their offspring inherit ‘good’ genes,” says lead author Carrie Branch, Assistant Professor at Western University, Ontario, Canada. “Cognitive abilities such as spatial learning and memory allow animals to succeed in variable environments and can be directly inherited and shaped by natural selection, but there is little evidence to show that females choose males with better cognitive abilities.”
