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Ducks go quackers for dishy drakes

February 29, 2000

Good-looking males produce healthiest families
Every parent wants to ensure their offspring get the best start in life, but it seems that offspring of attractive parents might be getting a better start than others.
Studies of mallard ducks carried out by scientists based at the University of Cambridge show that females are laying bigger eggs for more attractive males.
Dr Emma Cunningham, in the Department of Zoology, who has been leading the study, explained:
"In many different animals, attractive males often father healthier offspring than other males. It was presumed this was because they have 'good genes', which they pass onto their offspring.
"But our study, which has focused on the mallard duck, has shown it can all depend on how much the female likes her partner."
The research, due to be published this week in Nature, has shown that when female ducks are partnered with attractive males, they give their chicks a boost by starting them off inside bigger, heavier eggs.
Big eggs produce offspring that are in better condition when they hatch and so these chicks are much more likely to thrive.
Dr Andrew Russell, co-author of the study, said:
"This would seem a sensible thing to do if attractive males can provide the female with better resources for rearing her offspring than less attractive males."
The attractive males are those that hatch very early in the spring. Since the early bird catches the worm, these early birds are generally in much better condition that other males.

This means they are likely to have better access to all the things a female might find useful for raising a family - so she might therefore be able to put a bit more into the eggs when she is partnered to these males.
However, the findings produced by the study, have also opened up a can of worms.
If females are also investing more in preferred males in other species, the importance of genetic benefits to offspring might not always be as great as scientists have previously considered.
"It will now be essential to untangle how much a parent's genes affect their offspring from other non-genetic causes, such as a mother's investment," said Dr Cunningham.
"We need to understand the relative importance of these things to ensure that animals remain productive, in both natural and captive environments."
These findings may also have implications for farming practice as they suggest that letting farm animals choose their own mate - which is often considered a more ethical way to breed farmed animals - may also be a more productive one as well.

Cambridge, University of

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