			Home About us Contact

Pair Bonding (pair + bonding)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Pair Bonding and Multiple Paternity in the Polygamous Common Quail Coturnix coturnix

ETHOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
J. D. Rodríguez-Teijeiro
The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is one of the few species in which mate-switching (when different pair bonds are established within a single breeding attempt), has been recorded. In this study, we report the characteristics of pair bonds (description, number of males per female and duration) by monitoring a wild population of common quail (28 females and 49 males) by radiotracking. 57% of the females studied (n = 14) showed mate-switching, whereas 22% of the males were serially polygynous, successively forming pairs with a series of females. The fitness of females with mate-switching, measured in terms of clutch size and hatching success, did not differ from that of females bonded with one male. The analysis of paternity in three families by multilocus DNA fingerprinting revealed genetic polygamy in two of the nests studied. A male sired offspring with two females, and we obtained genetic evidence for intraspecific brood parasitism. We discuss how these behavioural and ecological observations may relate to the particular mating system of the common quail. [source]

Variations in male parenting behavior and physiology in the common marmoset

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2009
Toni E. Ziegler
Infant survival and wellbeing is dependent upon good parenting skills. In some species of primates, fathers are necessary to ensure both positive developmental and social outcomes for their offspring. Common marmosets and the related cotton-top tamarin monkeys provide extensive paternal care of multiple offspring and are essential for infant survival. However, we have found significant variation in a father's motivation to respond to infant stimuli. Additionally, marmoset males who are experienced fathers are significantly more motivated to respond to infants and infant stimuli than adult males who have yet to be fathers. Expectant fathers appear to be preparing for their energetic role in infant care by responding with increases in multiple reproductive hormones and showing weight gain during their mate's pregnancy. Male marmosets have been shown to be hormonally responsive to scent signals. Males show increased testosterone shortly after smelling periovulatory scents and lower levels of testosterone following presentation of their own infant's scent. These two inverse testosterone responses combined indicate that paternal males have a flexible system of responding to socially relevant odor cues. Thus males can be ready to mate when their mate is fertile while continuing to be responsive to their infants when these two events occur simultaneously. A male's hormonal and physical responsiveness to parenting may be due to pair bonding between the male and his mate. Examining the variability between males in their behavioral, physical, and hormonal responses to their mate's pregnancy, and infant stimuli provides the means for determining the mechanisms of good parenting in fathers. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Telencephalic binding sites for oxytocin and social organization: A comparative study of eusocial naked mole-rats and solitary cape mole-rats

THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, Issue 10 2010
Theodosis Kalamatianos
Abstract African mole-rats provide a unique taxonomic group for investigating the evolution and neurobiology of sociality. The two species investigated here display extreme differences in social organization and reproductive strategy. Naked mole-rats (NMRs) live in colonies, dominated by a queen and her consorts; most members remain nonreproductive throughout life but cooperate in burrowing, foraging, and caring for pups, for which they are not biological parents (alloparenting). In contrast, Cape mole-rats (CMRs) are solitary and intolerant of conspecifics, except during fleeting seasonal copulation or minimal maternal behavior. Research on other mammals suggests that oxytocin receptors at various telencephalic sites regulate social recognition, monogamous pair bonding, and maternal/allomaternal behavior. Current paradigms in this field derive from monogamous and polygamous species of New World voles, which are evolutionarily remote from Old World mole-rats. The present findings indicate that NMRs exhibit a considerably greater level of oxytocin receptor (OTR) binding than CMRs in the: nucleus accumbens; indusium griseum; central, medial, and cortical amygdaloid nuclei; bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; and CA1 hippocampal subfield. In contrast, OTR binding in the piriform cortex is intense in CMRs but undetectable in NMRs. We speculate that the abundance of OTR binding and oxytocin-neurophysin-immunoreactive processes in the nucleus accumbens of NMRs reflects their sociality, alloparenting behavior, and potential for reproductive attachments. In contrast, the paucity of oxytocin and its receptors at this site in CMRs may reflect a paucity of prosocial behaviors. Whether similarities in OTR expression between eusocial mole-rats and monogamous voles are due to gene conservation or convergent evolution remains to be determined. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:1792,1813, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Peptides of love and fear: vasopressin and oxytocin modulate the integration of information in the amygdala

BIOESSAYS, Issue 9 2005
Jacek D
Neuropeptides vasopressin and oxytocin regulate a variety of behaviors ranging from maternal and pair bonding to aggression and fear. Their role in modulating fear responses has been widely recognized, but not yet well understood. Animal and human studies indicate the major role of the amygdala in controlling fear and anxiety. The amygdala is involved in detecting threat stimuli and linking them to defensive behaviors. This is accomplished by projections connecting the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) to the brain stem and to hypothalamic structures, which organize fear responses. A recent study by Huber et al1 demonstrates that vasopressin and oxytocin modulate the excitatory inputs into the CeA in opposite manners. Therefore this finding elucidates the mechanisms through which these neuropeptides may control the expression of fear. BioEssays 27:869,873, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]