XML Feed for RxPG News   Add RxPG News Headlines to My Yahoo!   Javascript Syndication for RxPG News

Research Health World General
 
  Home
 
 Latest Research
 Cancer
 Psychiatry
 Genetics
 Surgery
 Aging
 Ophthalmology
 Gynaecology
 Neurosciences
 Pharmacology
 Cardiology
 Obstetrics
 Infectious Diseases
 Respiratory Medicine
 Pathology
 Endocrinology
 Immunology
 Nephrology
 Gastroenterology
 Biotechnology
 Radiology
 Dermatology
 Microbiology
 Haematology
 Dental
 ENT
 Environment
 Embryology
 Orthopedics
 Metabolism
 Anaethesia
 Paediatrics
 Public Health
 Urology
 Musculoskeletal
 Clinical Trials
 Physiology
 Biochemistry
 Cytology
 Traumatology
 Rheumatology
 
 Medical News
 Health
 Opinion
 Healthcare
 Professionals
 Launch
 Awards & Prizes
 
 Careers
 Medical
 Nursing
 Dental
 
 Special Topics
 Euthanasia
 Ethics
 Evolution
  Reproduction
 Odd Medical News
 Feature
 
 World News
 Tsunami
 Epidemics
 Climate
 Business
 
 India
Search

Last Updated: Nov 18, 2006 - 12:32:53 PM

Evolution Channel
subscribe to Evolution newsletter

Special Topics : Evolution

   DISCUSS   |   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Mother birds give a nutritional leg up to chicks with unattractive fathers
Sep 26, 2006 - 10:38:00 PM, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena

"For female birds, an important aspect of parental investment is the resources allocated to eggs. The resources available to any female for reproduction and self-maintenance will be finite and she will inevitably be faced with decisions regarding how much resource to invest in each egg in each clutch she lays."

 
Mother birds deposit variable amounts of antioxidants into egg yolks, and it has long been theorized that females invest more in offspring sired by better quality males. However, a study from the November/December 2006 issue of Physiological and Biochemical Zoology shows that even ugly birds get their day. Providing new insight into the strategic basis behind resource allocation in eggs, the researchers found that female house finches deposit significantly more antioxidants, which protect the embryo during the developmental process, into eggs sired by less attractive fathers.

"For female birds, an important aspect of parental investment is the resources allocated to eggs," writes Dr. Kristen J. Navara (Auburn University and Ohio State University) and her coauthors. "The resources available to any female for reproduction and self-maintenance will be finite and she will inevitably be faced with decisions regarding how much resource to invest in each egg in each clutch she lays."

Male house finches display nutrition-linked plumage ranging in color from bright red to drab yellow. The researchers found that eggs sired by unattractive males (those with less brilliant feathers) had more total antioxidants, including 2.5 times the vitamin E levels, than eggs sired by males with redder, more saturated plumage. Thus, they explain, the deposition of more nutrients could represent compensation for the disadvantages experienced by an offspring from a lower quality male, allowing females to supersede limitations of a suboptimal pairing on her own reproductive success.

"For house finches, a species in which individuals are short-lived [and] present a high risk of death, a focus on the immediate reproductive attempts may be the only viable strategy," write the researchers. "By depositing antioxidants in a compensatory manner, females can maximize the reproductive output from the current nesting effort."
 

- Kristen J. Navara, Alexander V. Badyaev, Mary T. Mendonca, and Geoffrey E. Hill. "Yolk antioxidants vary with male attractiveness and female condition in the house finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)." Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 79:6.
 

www.journals.uchicago.edu

 
Subscribe to Evolution Newsletter
E-mail Address:

 

Since 1928, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology has presented original, current research in environmental, adaptational, and comparative physiology and biochemistry.

Related Evolution News

New approach will pinpoint genes linked to evolution of human brain
New genetic analysis forces re-draw of insect family tree
Giant insects might reign if only there was more oxygen in the air
Infection Status Drives Interspecies Mating Choices in Fruit Fly Females
Mother birds give a nutritional leg up to chicks with unattractive fathers
Mammals Evolve Faster on Islands!
A Bacterial Protein Puts a New Twist on DNA Transcription
Why Does Sex Exist?
Pseudogenes Research Reinforces Theory of Evolution
Non-human primates may be linchpin in evolution of language


For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 

© Copyright 2004 onwards by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited
Contact Us