Behavioral Ecology Blog

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For those of you that are new to The Behavioral Ecology Blog, welcome. Here, I blog about sex, science, the science of sex, our slacker Prez, and other random stuff..

Many of the classic problems in behavioral ecology involves leks. How they evolve, why they are stable, who makes them up, where they are located. There are interesting questions at every level, but until recently, there were few answers.

A friend and recent MVZ graduate Emily DuVal has shed some light onto one of the central problems- why do beta males (the ones that attend the lek, but apparently do not breed) stick around and watch others mate. 3 general hypotheses have been proposed:

1. The beta males does in fact breed. People usually invoke alternative mating strategies here. It is possible, and has been observed in some species. Beta males intercept females either coming to or leaving the lek and copulate- sometimes forcefully.
2. The alpha and beta males are related. The beta male increases the alpha’s direct reproductive success, and therefor his own indirect fitness- via kin selection.
3. The beta male has a higher likelihood or attaining alpha status in subsequent years by just sticking around..

Well anyway.. Emily, having spent 5 years in Panama conducting field research has the answer…

1. The beta males garnish little to no direct reproductive success
2. The alpha and beta males are not related- hence, no kin selection.
3. The beta male is much more likely to become the alpha during the next breeding system..

OK, so this is a really cool system, and an excellent paper. Go out and read it,

“Adaptive advantages of cooperative courtship for subordinate male lance-tailed manakins“