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Extra-pair paternity facilitates cooperation in pied flycatchers – discussion arising

The paper published earlier this year showing that infidelity can promote cooperation among male pied flycatchers has sparked some discussion.

Female pied flycatcher
Female pied flycatcher
Photo:
Alpo Roikola (Wikimedia Commons)

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Original paper:

Krams, I. A., Mennerat, A., Krama, T., Krams, R., Jõers, P., Elferts, D., Luoto, S., et al. 2022. Extra-pair paternity explains cooperation in a bird species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 119: e2112004119. doi:10.1073/pnas.2112004119.

Commentary by Lifjeld and Slagsvold:

Lifjeld, J. T., and T. Slagsvold. 2022. Female extra-pair copulation for direct fitness benefits: A cautionary note. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119:e2207108119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2207108119.

Reply by Eliassen and others:

Eliassen, S., T. Krama, S. Luoto, R. Krams, A. Mennerat, P. Jõers, D. Elferts, et al. 2022. Reply to Jan T. Lifjeld et al.: Female agency and fitness benefits of mixed-paternity broods remain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119:e2207741119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2207741119