Fine-scale genetic structuring on Manacus manacus leks

Lisa Shorey (), Stuart Piertney, Jon Stone and Jacob Höglund
Additional contact information
Lisa Shorey: Population Biology/EBC, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D
Stuart Piertney: NERC Molecular Genetics in Ecology Initiative, University of Aberdeen
Jon Stone: Animal Ecology/EBC, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D
Jacob Höglund: Population Biology/EBC, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D

Nature, 2000, vol. 408, issue 6810, 352-353

Abstract: Abstract Leks have traditionally been considered as arenas where males compete to attract females and secure matings. Thus, direct fitness benefits mediated through competition between males to fertilize females have been considered to be the primary force driving the evolution of lekking behaviour1,2. Inclusive fitness benefits mediated through kin selection3 may also be involved in lek formation and evolution4,5, but to date this theory has been largely ignored. According to kin-selection theory, both reproducing and non-reproducing males may gain indirect inclusive fitness benefits. If females are attracted to larger leks, non-reproducing males add attractiveness to a lek, and therefore, in a genetically structured population, boost the reproductive success of kin. Theory predicts that the attractiveness of leks is plastic, and that males establish themselves on a lek in which the top male, in terms of reproductive success, is a close relative6. Here we show that in white-bearded manakins (Manacus manacus), for which larger leks are more attractive to females7,8 and so secure the maximum number of matings, there is extraordinary fine-scale genetic structure, with leks being composed of clusters of related kin. We propose that males establish themselves where they find relatives to such an extent that they form groups within leks, and that such behaviour is consistent with kin-selection theory to maximize reproductive success of the group.

Date: 2000
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/35042562 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:408:y:2000:i:6810:d:10.1038_35042562

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/35042562

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().