The effect of ecology, demography and migration on the prevalence of cooperative breeding in the long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Cooperative breeding, where individuals help to care for young that are not their own, has long engendered interest from evolutionary biologists who have had limited success in establishing 'rules' to explain its prevalence. Whilst some cooperatively breeding species fit within the predict...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Woodward, Beth K.
Published: University of Sheffield 2008
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Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.489060
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Summary:Cooperative breeding, where individuals help to care for young that are not their own, has long engendered interest from evolutionary biologists who have had limited success in establishing 'rules' to explain its prevalence. Whilst some cooperatively breeding species fit within the predicted frameworks of life-history, ecological and/or phylogenetic factors, there are many that do not. This thesis examines the effect of constraints on the breeding system of the long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus, and specifically whether migration reduces the opportunity for kin-selected cooperative breeding.