Stolen ftom the ABC http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/ ... 987882.htm
Lying and cheating on your partner pays dividends if you are a Gouldian Finch, according to Australian researchers.
Published today in the journal Science, Associate Professor Simon Griffith and Dr Sarah Pryke of Sydney's Macquarie University show there are genetic drivers behind the endangered northern Australian bird's occasional flings.
The researchers say the findings may even have implications for human infertility.
For the study the researchers separated a fertile female Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae), and her social partner, by removing the male from the cage for 30 minutes.
They then introduced a virgin male into the cage.
Griffith says the male immediately began making moves on the female who "responded within the first couple of minutes".
The researchers were puzzled by this infidelity given the high price a female Gouldian finch could pay if her indiscretions were discovered, says Griffith.
Male partners play an active role in assisting a female bird to raise her young, contributing up to 50% of care involved in incubating the eggs and feeding the offspring.
"When a male suspects his partner is unfaithful he may desert the female and reduce the amount of care he invests in any offspring," says Griffith.
Mr Right
For extra-pair males however, the copulations are a win-win with the male increasing its reproductive success with limited investment, he says.
Griffith says if the introduced male was genetically superior to the social partner, with one copulation he could fertilise up to 80% of the eggs.
The female finch appears to have a mechanism through which to sort good and bad sperm, says Griffith.
"Mr Right's sperm is very much better for her than Mr Wrong's," he says.
"This means that by occasionally cheating, she is maximising her chances of having healthy offspring because one copulation with good male sperm is better than 30 copulations with bad sperm. So even a little cheating can have big benefits."
Human implications
He says the finding could have implications for couples with infertility issues.
"There is clearly a mechanism at work where the fertility of a male is clearly dependent on how compatible his genetics are with hers," says Griffith.
He says it may be in humans that similar processes govern fertility between people.
Griffith says the next step in the study is to investigate how the Gouldian finch female distinguishes between sperm.
It could be the female is somehow sorting the sperm, her immune system fights the degraded sperm or the more genetically compatible sperm is simply better at penetrating the egg.
Cheating reaps big benefits for Gouldian Finches
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