The Heirs of Amphitryon: Social Fathers and Natural Fathers

1995 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 787-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Maclean
Keyword(s):  
Social Fathers

scholarly journals Extrapair Fertilizations in Red Bishops (Euplectes Orix): Do Females Follow Conditional Extrapair Strategies?

The Auk ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Thomas W. P. Friedl ◽  
Georg M. Klump
Keyword(s):  
Good Genes ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Extrapair Paternity ◽  
Insurance Hypothesis ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
Sperm Depletion ◽  
Fertility Insurance ◽  
Social Fathers ◽  
Rule Out

Abstract Although many studies have revealed differences in patterns of extrapair paternity between species and between populations of the same species, possible differences in female extrapair behavior within populations have received far less attention. Here, we propose and test the hypothesis that females of the highly polygynous Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) follow two different extrapair strategies, with benefits of extrapair copulations depending on the quality of their social mate (”conditional-extrapair-strategy hypothesis”). In particular, we propose that females mated to low-quality males enhance the genetic quality of their offspring by performing extrapair copulations with males of higher quality than their social mate (in accordance with the good-genes hypothesis), whereas females mated to high-quality males perform extrapair copulations as insurance against temporary infertility of their social mate caused by sperm depletion due to frequent copulations (in accordance with the fertility-insurance hypothesis). Several predictions derived from our hypothesis, regarding differences in frequency and distribution of both unhatched eggs and extrapair young between high-quality and low-quality males, are tested and shown to be supported. Most importantly, hatching failures occurred more often in territories of high-quality males than in those of low-quality males, and the proportion of unhatched eggs within the territory was positively correlated to breeding synchrony for high-quality males only. Those results suggest that sperm depletion is a risk for females mated to high-quality males with many mating opportunities. The fact that broods of high-quality males without unhatched eggs had a significantly higher proportion of extrapair young than broods of high-quality males with unhatched eggs is consistent with the hypothesis that females mated to high-quality males were successful in performing EPCs as insurance against temporary infertility of their social mates. Furthermore, genetic fathers of extrapair young hatched in territories of low-quality males were found to be of higher quality than the corresponding social fathers, whereas no difference in quality was found between genetic and social fathers of extrapair young hatched in territories of high-quality males. Although we cannot exclude the possibility that the observed pattern was a result of females mating randomly from within the available pool of extrapair males, it is in accordance with our prediction that females mated to low-quality males perform extrapair copulations with males of higher quality than their social mate to enhance offspring fitness. Overall, the data presented here suggest that females within our study colony adjusted their extrapair behavior to the quality of their social mate, even if we cannot entirely rule out alternative explanations for some of the results obtained. Thus, the study provides support for the conditional-extrapair-strategy hypothesis, which states that within populations, females may follow different extrapair strategies to gain different benefits. Fertilizaciones Extra-pareja en Euplectes orix: ¿Siguen las Hembras Estrategias Extra-pareja Condicionales?

scholarly journals Coresidential Father Transitions and Biological Parents’ Coparenting Quality in Early and Middle Childhood

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 677-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Martin ◽  
Rebecca M. Ryan ◽  
Elizabeth M. Riina ◽  
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Growth Curve ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Fragile Families ◽  
Child Wellbeing ◽  
Growth Curve Models ◽  
Biological Parents ◽  
Social Fathers

This study examined how the entrances and exits of biological and social fathers into and out of children’s households were associated with biological parents’ coparenting quality. Piecewise growth curve models tested for variation in these associations between child ages 1 and 3, 3 and 5, and 5 and 9. Data came from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( n = 2,394). Results indicated that in all three age intervals, a biological father’s entrance was associated with a contemporaneous increase in coparenting quality, whereas his exit was associated with a contemporaneous decrease. A biological father’s exit between child ages 1 and 3, or 3 and 5, was associated with declining coparenting quality in subsequent intervals. A social father’s entrance was consistently associated with a contemporaneous decrease in the biological parents’ coparenting quality, whereas his exit was associated with a contemporaneous increase between ages 3 and 5, and 5 and 9.

scholarly journals “ . . . I Should Maintain a Healthy Life Now and Not Just Live as I Please . . . ”

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. NP39-NP50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Hosegood ◽  
Linda Richter ◽  
Lynda Clarke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Men’S Health ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Men's Health ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Social Fathers

This study examines the social context of men’s health and health behaviors in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, particularly in relationship to fathering and fatherhood. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with 51 Zulu-speaking men. Three themes related to men’s health emerged from the analysis of transcripts: (a) the interweaving of health status and health behaviors in descriptions of “good” and “bad” fathers, (b) the dominance of positive accounts of health and health status in men’s own accounts, and (c) fathers’ narratives of transformations and positive reinforcement in health behaviors. The study reveals the pervasiveness of an ideal of healthy fathers, one in which the health of men has practical and symbolic importance not only for men themselves but also for others in the family and community. The study also suggests that men hold in esteem fathers who manage to be involved with their biological children who are not coresident or who are playing a fathering role for nonbiological children (social fathers). In South Africa, men’s health interventions have predominantly focused on issues related to HIV and sexual health. The new insights obtained from the perspective of men indicate that there is likely to be a positive response to health interventions that incorporate acknowledgment of, and support for, men’s aspirations and lived experiences of social and biological fatherhood. Furthermore, the findings indicate the value of data on men’s involvement in families for men’s health research in sub-Saharan Africa.

Social Fathers and Child Well-Being

2008 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 950-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon H. Bzostek
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Social Fathers

scholarly journals Sons learn songs from their social fathers in a cooperatively breeding bird

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1741) ◽  
pp. 3154-3160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma I. Greig ◽  
Benjamin N. Taft ◽  
Stephen Pruett-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Kin Recognition ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Song Learning ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Cooperatively Breeding ◽  
Social Fathers ◽  
Social Associations ◽  
Social Association

Song learning is hypothesized to allow social adaptation to a local song neighbourhood. Maintaining social associations is particularly important in cooperative breeders, yet vocal learning in such species has only been assessed in systems where social association was correlated with relatedness. Thus, benefits of vocal learning as a means of maintaining social associations could not be disentangled from benefits of kin recognition. We assessed genetic and cultural contributions to song in a species where social association was not strongly correlated with kinship: the cooperatively breeding, reproductively promiscuous splendid fairy-wren ( Malurus splendens ). We found that song characters of socially associated father–son pairs were more strongly correlated (and thus songs were more similar) than songs of father–son pairs with a genetic, but no social, association (i.e. cuckolding fathers). Song transmission was, therefore, vertical and cultural, with minimal signatures of kinship. Additionally, song characters were not correlated with several phenotypic indicators of male quality, supporting the idea that there may be a tradeoff between accurate copying of tutors and quality signalling via maximizing song performance, particularly when social and genetic relationships are decoupled. Our results lend support to the hypothesis that song learning facilitates the maintenance of social associations by permitting unrelated individuals to acquire similar signal phenotypes.

Motivations toward Fathering: Two Minority Profiles within the Majority's Context

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy S. Coney ◽  
Wade C. MacKey
Keyword(s):  
African American Men ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Academic Press ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Women’S Perceptions ◽  
Relative Congruence ◽  
Social Fathers ◽  
Social Gain ◽  
Father Role

Recently, both the popular and academic press have shown increasing interest in American fathers, portraying them as simply additive to their children's well-being. In other words, if men enact their role as social fathers (i.e., providers) then there is a net social gain for the community. Earlier surveys found that, in the majority community, men have a shared motivational hierarchy that helps determine whether they will enter into and remain in the father role. Women, in the majority community, are accurate in their perception of this hierarchical profile. In relation to fathering incentives, the present study examines the relative congruence between men from the majority community and men and women from two minority communities, namely, Chinese-American and African-American men. The relative consonance of women's perceptions with the men's divulgences is also surveyed.

scholarly journals Like Father Like Son: Cultural and Genetic Contributions to Song Inheritance in an Estrildid Finch

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca N. Lewis ◽  
Masayo Soma ◽  
Selvino R. de Kort ◽  
R. Tucker Gilman
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
Vocal Performance ◽  
Cultural Inheritance ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Song Structure ◽  
Novel Variants ◽  
Social Fathers ◽  
Song Syntax ◽  
Genetic Contributions

Social learning of vocalizations is integral to song inheritance in oscine passerines. However, other factors, such as genetic inheritance and the developmental environment, can also influence song phenotype. The relative contributions of these factors can have a strong influence on song evolution and may affect important evolutionary processes such as speciation. However, relative contributions are well-described only for a few species and are likely to vary with taxonomy. Using archived song data, we examined patterns of song inheritance in a domestic population of Java sparrows (Lonchura oryzivora), some of which had been cross-fostered. Six-hundred and seventy-six songs from 73 birds were segmented and classified into notes and note subtypes (N = 22,972), for which a range of acoustic features were measured. Overall, we found strong evidence for cultural inheritance of song structure and of the acoustic characteristics of notes; sons’ song syntax and note composition were similar to that of their social fathers and were not influenced by genetic relatedness. For vocal consistency of note subtypes, a measure of vocal performance, there was no apparent evidence of social or genetic inheritance, but both age and developmental environment influenced consistency. These findings suggest that high learning fidelity of song material, i.e., song structure and note characteristics, could allow novel variants to be preserved and accumulate over generations, with implications for evolution and conservation. However, differences in vocal performance do not show strong links to cultural inheritance, instead potentially serving as condition dependent signals.

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