Abstract
Most of the diversity in the mating systems of birds and other animals comes at higher taxonomic levels, such as across orders. Although divergent selective pressures should lead to animal mating systems that diverge sharply from those of close relatives, opportunities to examine the importance of such processes are scarce. We addressed this issue using the Araripe manakin (Antilophia bokermanni), a species endemic to a forest enclave surrounded by xeric shrublands in Brazil. Most manakins exhibit polygynous lekking mating systems that lack territoriality but exhibit strong sexual selection. In sharp contrast, we found that male Araripe manakins defended exclusive territories, and females nested within male territories. However, territoriality and offspring paternity were dissociated: males sired only 7% of nestlings from the nests within their territories and non-territorial males sired numerous nestlings. Moreover, female polyandry was widespread, with most broods exhibiting mixed paternity. Apparently, territories in this species function differently from both lekking arenas and resource-based territories of socially monogamous species. The unexpected territoriality of Araripe manakins and its dissociation from paternity is a unique evolutionary development within the manakin clade. Collectively, our findings underscore how divergences in mating systems might evolve based on selective pressures from novel environmental contexts.
Highlights
There has been considerable interest in the factors that drive intraspecific variation in mating strategies and sex roles, including variation in the frequency of extra-pair paternity [4,5,6,7]
We were able to closely monitor 51 Araripe manakin territories (Season 1: n = 20; Season 2: n = 18; Season 3: n = 13) defended by males in definitive plumage, 48 of which were banded; the other three territories were occupied by males we were unable to band but assumed they were the same males given the consistency of singing perches
While our data confirm that territoriality occurs in the Araripe manakin, this was detached from the many other traits that typically evolve in conjunction with male resource monopolization
Summary
There has been considerable interest in the factors that drive intraspecific variation in mating strategies and sex roles (especially in fish: [1,2]; reviewed in [3]), including variation in the frequency of extra-pair paternity [4,5,6,7]. Classic as well as more recent studies in behavioural ecology have mapped mating system variation across closely related species royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos R. Environmental pressures can play a role in shaping mating systems, and may result in the divergence of some species from the typical pattern associated with their clade. Few studies have explored cases where a very small number of species have deviated from the social/mating system typical of their entire family, and show intermediacy and possible transition between mating system types, as we document here for a species in a clade of nearly exclusively lek-breeding birds. Examining species with breeding behaviours that deviate substantially from those of their closest relatives allows us to evaluate the mechanisms and selective forces that shape breeding ecology and that are potentially important in speciation patterns
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