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When should cuckolded males care for extra-pair offspring?

Jannis Liedtke1, Lutz Fromhage

  • 1Zoological Institute, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|March 23, 2012
PubMed

Insights

In socially monogamous species, males may care for unrelated offspring due to pseudo-reciprocity. Surviving extra-pair offspring can help raise future siblings, offsetting care costs for males.

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Game Theory

Background:

  • Socially monogamous species with bi-parental care face reduced male reproductive success due to extra-pair copulations (EPCs).
  • Males might be expected to withhold brood care if EPCs are detected.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate male brood care decisions in cooperatively breeding species where offspring assist in raising subsequent broods.
  • To explore the game-theory dynamics of male parental investment in the context of EPCs and sibling cooperation.

Main Methods:

  • A game-theory model was developed to simulate male brood care decisions.
  • The model incorporated factors such as EPCs and the cooperative breeding system where offspring aid in rearing half-siblings.

Main Results:

  • The model predicts that males may be selected to provide care even for broods with no genetic relation to them.
  • This counterintuitive finding is explained by pseudo-reciprocity: surviving extra-pair offspring can provide future cooperative benefits.

Conclusions:

  • Pseudo-reciprocity, driven by sibling cooperation, can favor male investment in unrelated broods.
  • These findings may extend beyond cooperative breeders to other systems involving sibling cooperation.

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