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dc.contributor.authorLifjeld, Jan Terje
dc.contributor.authorKleven, Oddmund
dc.contributor.authorFossøy, Frode
dc.contributor.authorJacobsen, Frode F.
dc.contributor.authorLaskemoen, Terje
dc.contributor.authorRudolfsen, Geir
dc.contributor.authorRobertson, Raleigh J.
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-28T08:04:56Z
dc.date.available2022-04-28T08:04:56Z
dc.date.issued2022-04-23
dc.description.abstractIn birds with extrapair mating, older males usually have higher fertilization success than younger males. Two hypotheses can potentially explain this pattern: 1) females prefer older, and often more ornamented males, or 2) older males invest more in reproduction and fertility than younger males. Here we studied factors associated with age-related male fertilization success in a population of barn swallows Hirundo rustica in Canada. We document that male fertilization success increased gradually up to a minimum age of four-year old. The age effect was especially strong for the number of extrapair offspring obtained and the occurrence of a second brood. The higher fertilization success of older males was also associated with an early start of breeding in spring. The length of the elongated outermost tail feathers, a postulated male ornament preferred by females, also increased with age (in both sexes), but it was not a significant predictor of male fertilization success within age classes. Male fertility traits, especially testis size, but also sperm motility and sperm velocity, increased significantly across age groups. Our results suggest that the higher fertilization success by older males is due to their higher reproductive investments and that their longer tails are an adaptation to early arrival on the breeding grounds.en_US
dc.identifier.citationLifjeld JT, Kleven O, Fossøy F, Jacobsen FFJ, Laskemoen T, Rudolfsen G, Robertson RJ. When Older Males Sire More Ofspring—Increased Attractiveness or Higher Fertility?. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 2022;76en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 2019261
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s00265-022-03170-0
dc.identifier.issn0340-5443
dc.identifier.issn1432-0762
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/24923
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherSpringeren_US
dc.relation.journalBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2022 The Author(s)en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural scienses: 400::Zoology and botany: 480en_US
dc.titleWhen Older Males Sire More Ofspring—Increased Attractiveness or Higher Fertility?en_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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