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Bales KL, Ardekani CS, Baxter A, Karaskiewicz CL, Kuske JX, Lau AR, Savidge LE, Sayler KR, Witczak LR. What is a pair bond? Horm Behav 2021; 136:105062. [PMID: 34601430 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.105062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Revised: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Pair bonding is a psychological construct that we attempt to operationalize via behavioral and physiological measurements. Yet, pair bonding has been both defined differently in various taxonomic groups as well as used loosely to describe not just a psychological and affective phenomenon, but also a social structure or mating system (either social monogamy or just pair living). In this review, we ask the questions: What has been the historical definition of a pair bond? Has this definition differed across taxonomic groups? What behavioral evidence do we see of pair bonding in these groups? Does this observed evidence alter the definition of pair bonding? Does the observed neurobiology underlying these behaviors affect this definition as well? And finally, what are the upcoming directions in which the study of pair bonding needs to head?
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L Bales
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America; Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, United States of America; California National Primate Research Center, United States of America.
| | - Cory S Ardekani
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America
| | - Alexander Baxter
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America; California National Primate Research Center, United States of America
| | - Chloe L Karaskiewicz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America; California National Primate Research Center, United States of America
| | - Jace X Kuske
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America
| | - Allison R Lau
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America; California National Primate Research Center, United States of America
| | - Logan E Savidge
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America; California National Primate Research Center, United States of America
| | - Kristina R Sayler
- Department of Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, United States of America
| | - Lynea R Witczak
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, United States of America; California National Primate Research Center, United States of America
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Robart AR, Sinervo B. Parental response to intruder females altered by ornamentation and mate quality in a biparental fish. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ashley R Robart
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
| | - Barry Sinervo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Fukuda K, Manabe H, Sakurai M, Dewa SI, Shinomiya A, Sunobe T. Monogamous mating system and sexuality in the gobiid fish, Trimma marinae (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae). J ETHOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-016-0499-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Rosvall KA. Intrasexual competition in females: evidence for sexual selection? Behav Ecol 2011; 22:1131-1140. [PMID: 22479137 PMCID: PMC3199163 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arr106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 268] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2010] [Revised: 11/29/2010] [Accepted: 05/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
In spite of recent interest in sexual selection in females, debate exists over whether traits that influence female-female competition are sexually selected. This review uses female-female aggressive behavior as a model behavioral trait for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms promoting intrasexual competition, focusing especially on sexual selection. I employ a broad definition of sexual selection, whereby traits that influence competition for mates are sexually selected, whereas those that directly influence fecundity or offspring survival are naturally selected. Drawing examples from across animal taxa, including humans, I examine 4 predictions about female intrasexual competition based on the abundance of resources, the availability of males, and the direct or indirect benefits those males provide. These patterns reveal a key sex difference in sexual selection: Although females may compete for the number of mates, they appear to compete more so for access to high-quality mates that provide direct and indirect (genetic) benefits. As is the case in males, intrasexual selection in females also includes competition for essential resources required for access to mates. If mate quality affects the magnitude of mating success, then restricting sexual selection to competition for quantity of mates may ignore important components of fitness in females and underestimate the role of sexual selection in shaping female phenotype. In the future, understanding sex differences in sexual selection will require further exploration of the extent of mutual intrasexual competition and the incorporation of quality of mating success into the study of sexual selection in both sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly A Rosvall
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Jordan Hall, Rm 142, 1001 E. 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
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Immigration costs for female chimpanzees and male protection as an immigrant counterstrategy to intrasexual aggression. Anim Behav 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.05.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Gill SA, Alfson ED, Hau M. Context matters: female aggression and testosterone in a year-round territorial neotropical songbird (Thryothorus leucotis). Proc Biol Sci 2007; 274:2187-94. [PMID: 17609184 PMCID: PMC2706190 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Testosterone promotes aggressive behaviour in male vertebrates during the breeding season, but the importance of testosterone in female aggression remains unclear. Testosterone has both beneficial and detrimental effects on behaviour and physiology, prompting the hypothesis that selection favours an association between aggression and testosterone only in certain contexts in which intense or persistent aggression may be beneficial. We tested this hypothesis in a year-round territorial female buff-breasted wrens (Thryothorus leucotis), by exposing free-living females to experimental intrusions in different social (either single female or male, or paired decoys) and seasonal (pre-breeding or breeding) contexts. Females responded more aggressively to intrusions by females and pairs than to males. However, female intrusions elicited stronger responses during pre-breeding, whereas responses to pair intrusions were more intense during breeding. Territorial females had elevated testosterone levels after female intrusions and intermediate levels after pair intrusions during pre-breeding, but the levels of testosterone remained low after these intrusions during breeding. These results demonstrate seasonal differences in circulating testosterone following territorial aggression in female buff-breasted wrens and are suggestive of differences according to social context as well. Context-dependent elevation of testosterone implies that selection acts directly on female vertebrates to shape patterns of testosterone secretion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon A Gill
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
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Sogabe A, Matsumoto K, Yanagisawa Y. Mate Change Reduces the Reproductive Rate of Males in a Monogamous Pipefish Corythoichthys haematopterus: The Benefit of Long-Term Pair Bonding. Ethology 2007. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2007.01370.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Abstract
The formation of long-term pair bonds in marine fish has elicited much empirical study. However, the evolutionary mechanisms involved remain contested and previous theoretical frameworks developed to explain monogamy in birds and mammals are not applicable to many cases of monogamy in marine fish. In this review, we summarise all reported occurrences of social monogamy in marine fish, which has so far been observed in 18 fish families. We test quantitatively the role of ecological and behavioural traits previously suggested to be important for the evolution of monogamy and show that monogamous species occur primarily in the tropics and are associated with coral reef environments in which territory defence and site attachment is facilitated. However, there is little evidence that obligately monogamous species are smaller in body size than species that can adopt a polygynous mating system. We review the evidence pertaining to six hypotheses suggested for the evolution of monogamous pair bonds: (1) biparental care, (2) habitat limitation, (3) low population density/low mate availability/low mobility, (4) increased reproductive efficiency, (5) territory defence, and (6) net benefit of single mate sequestration. We outline predictions and associated empirical tests that can distinguish between these hypotheses, and assess how generally each hypothesis explains monogamy within and between breeding periods for species with different types of territories (i.e. feeding only or feeding and breeding). Hypotheses (1) and (2) have limited applicability to marine fishes, while hypotheses (3)-(5) have little empirical support beyond the species for which they were designed. However, the role of paternal care in promoting monogamous pair bonds is not explicit in these hypotheses, yet paternal care has been reported in more than 70 monogamous marine fish. We show that paternal care may act to increase the likelihood of monogamy in combination with each of the proposed hypotheses through decreased benefits to males from searching for additional mates or increased advantages to females from sequestering a single high-quality mate. Among species defending breeding and feeding territories, the benefits, both within and between reproductive periods, of sequestering a single high-quality mate (hypothesis 6) appear to be the best explanation for socially monogamous pairs. For species without parental care (i.e. holding only feeding territories), territory defence (hypothesis 5) in combination with the benefits of guarding a large mate (hypothesis 6) could potentially explain most instances of monogamy. Empirical studies of marine fishes over the past two decades are therefore slowly changing the view of monogamy from a mating system imposed upon species by environmental constraints to one with direct benefits to both sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- E A Whiteman
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK.
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Ros AFH, Bruintjes R, Santos RS, Canario AVM, Oliveira RF. The role of androgens in the trade-off between territorial and parental behavior in the Azorean rock-pool blenny, Parablennius parvicornis. Horm Behav 2004; 46:491-7. [PMID: 15465536 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2004.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2003] [Revised: 01/08/2004] [Accepted: 04/27/2004] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Androgen hormones have been shown to facilitate competitive ability in courtship and territorial behavior, while suppressing paternal behavior. The rock-pool blenny, Parablennius parvicornis, provides an excellent model to study the proximate regulation of such a trade-off between territorial and parental behavior, because nest-holder males of this species display these behaviors simultaneously. A field study was carried out in which territorial nest holder males were either treated with long-lasting implants filled with 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) or with control implants. Males treated with 11-KT showed a higher frequency of aggressive behavior, were more responsive to aggressive challenges, and were more persistent in aggressive behavior than control males. In addition, territories were larger in males treated with 11-KT than in controls. We found evidence for incompatibility between defense of a large territory and high levels of parental behavior. However, contrary to expectation, 11-KT did not suppress parental behavior. We suggest that trade-offs between territorial and parental behavior may not be regulated by androgen hormones but may result from a time constraint in the individual's activity budget.
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Affiliation(s)
- A F H Ros
- Unidade de Investigação em Eco- Etologia, Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal.
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Social monogamy in the cleaning goby Elacatinus evelynae: ecological constraints or net benefit? Anim Behav 2003. [DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2003.2200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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