A carryover effect of migration underlies individual variation in reproductive readiness and extreme egg size dimorphism in macaroni penguins

The American Naturalist
Glenn T CrossinT D Williams

Abstract

Where life-history stages overlap, there is the potential for physiological conflicts that might be important in mediating carryover effects. However, our knowledge of the specific physiological mechanisms underlying carryover effects remains rudimentary, and specific examples remain rare. Here we show that female macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) initiate vitellogenesis and yolk formation while at sea during return migrations to breeding colonies; yolk formation takes approximately 16 days, but females lay only 7-14 days after their return. Once on land, Eudyptes penguins show a unique reproductive pattern of extreme egg size dimorphism in which the smaller, first-laid A-egg is 55%-75% of the size of the larger B-egg. We show that the degree of egg size dimorphism is inversely correlated with time between arrival and laying; that is, females that begin reproductive development well in advance of their return produce more dimorphic eggs. Furthermore, late-arriving females that produce the most dimorphic eggs have lower plasma levels of the yolk precursor vitellogenin on arrival; that is, they show lower reproductive "readiness." These data support the hypothesis that extreme egg size dimorphism in Eudyptes penguins is d...Continue Reading

Citations

Jan 28, 2014·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Oliver P LoveTony D Williams
Dec 14, 2011·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Tony D Williams
Jun 22, 2013·Ecology and Evolution·Douglas C BraunJohn D Reynolds
Nov 21, 2014·Oecologia·Holly L HenninOliver P Love
Oct 7, 2016·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Glenn T Crossin, Tony D Williams
Jan 8, 2017·Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular & Integrative Physiology·Maud PoisbleauMarcel Eens
May 10, 2017·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·John C WingfieldHelen E Chmura
Jul 2, 2019·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·P D BoersmaB Wienecke
Jul 21, 2016·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Jennifer D McCabeDavid Hiebeler

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