Females compensate for unattractive partners

Monday, November 10, 2008 - 14:42 in Biology & Nature

(PhysOrg.com) -- Attractive males promise quality offspring. Most female birds therefore invest a lot of energy in their attempts to breed with attractive partners. Not so the female zebra finch. If they have unattractive male partners, the females lay particularly big eggs that contain a lot of nutrients. Because the finch pairs stay together for their entire lifespan, the female has no reason to save up resources for a subsequent and better partner. The low genetic quality of the male is compensated for by good egg quality, as discovered by the scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen.

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