Sperm Competition after Sequential Mating in the Ringed Turtle-Dove

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Abstract
Male Ringed Turtle-Doves (Streptopelia risoria) were sequentially mated, two to a single female, using albinism as a genetic marker. We determined that the second male had a higher probability of fertilizing the ova. This advantage is contingent on the female''s reproductive stage at the time of pairing. Females which ovulate within two days of encountering the second male lay eggs fathered by the first male, but subsequent eggs are fathered by the second male if he was able to copulate with the female. Thus, in this domesticated columbiform, as has been reported in domesticated Galliformes and Anseriformes, there seems to be a second male precedence in competitive mating situations. This finding is consistent with the utility of reported behavioral paternity guards.