Sexual Selection In House Wrens
| dc.contributor.author | Cramer, Emily | en_US |
| dc.contributor.chair | Webster Jr, Michael Stilson | en_US |
| dc.contributor.coChair | Vehrencamp, Sandra L. | en_US |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Lovette, John I | en_US |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Dickinson, Janis Lou | en_US |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Bass, Andrew Howard | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-01-31T19:46:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2013-01-31T19:46:33Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012-08-20 | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Chapters 1 and 2 focus on two aspects of trilled song that are likely physically challenge to produce: low vocal deviation and high consistency. Chapter 1 (in review at Behavioral Ecology) describes a playback study to territorial male house wrens showing that males do not respond differently to songs with different trill performance and consistency characteristics. Chapter 2 examines whether song traits correlate with male quality measures, with social pairing success, with extra-pair mating success, or with annual reproductive success. Again, I found no evidence that these song parameters are important. I conclude that house wrens do not use these song components as signals of male quality. In Chapters 3 and 4, I examine post-copulatory sexual selection in house wrens. Chapter 3 (accepted at the Journal of Ornithology) examines correlations between male quality measures and sperm morphology; we also show that sperm morphology is consistent between years, despite testicular regression and regrowth. In Chapter 4, we ask whether variation in sperm morphology is related to extra-pair paternity success, and find that it is not. Chapter 5 (accepted at Ethology) takes a more mechanistic perspective, and asks whether high circulating testosterone is necessary for aggressive behaviors in house wrens. I found no evidence to suggest that this is the case. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.other | bibid: 7959741 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1813/31207 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.subject | sexual selection | en_US |
| dc.subject | bird song | en_US |
| dc.subject | sperm morphology | en_US |
| dc.title | Sexual Selection In House Wrens | en_US |
| dc.type | dissertation or thesis | en_US |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Neurobiology | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Cornell University | en_US |
| thesis.degree.level | Doctor of Philosophy | |
| thesis.degree.name | Ph. D., Neurobiology |
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