Long-term female bias in sex ratios across life stages of Harpy Eagle, a large raptor exhibiting reverse sexual size dimorphism-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Long-term female bias in sex ratios across life stages of Harpy Eagle, a large raptor exhibiting reverse sexual size dimorphism

Published:2023-11 Issue:11 Volume:10 Page:
ISSN:2054-5703
Container-title:Royal Society Open Science
language:en
Short-container-title:R. Soc. open sci.

Author:

Banhos Aureo¹²³⁴⁵^ORCID,Sanaiotti Tânia Margarete³⁴⁶^ORCID,Coser Renan³⁴⁵⁷,Gravena Waleska⁵⁷⁸^ORCID,Aguiar-Silva Francisca Helena³⁴⁶^ORCID,Kaizer Mylena³⁴⁵⁹,Hrbek Tomas³⁵⁷⁹¹⁰^ORCID,Farias Izeni Pires³⁵⁷⁹¹⁰^ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Alto Universitário, s/n°, Guararema, 29500-000 Alegre, Espírito Santo, Brazil

2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Biologia Animal) - PPGBAN, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 514, Prédio Barbara Weinberg, 29075-910 Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil

3. Projeto Harpia (Harpy Eagle Project - Brazil), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia – INPA, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Aleixo, 69067-375 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

4. Projeto Harpia – Mata Atlântica (Harpy Eagle Project - Atlantic Forest), Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Alto Universitário, Guararema, 29500-000 Alegre, Espírito Santo, Brazil

5. Laboratório de Evolução e Genética Animal - LEGAL, Universidade Federal do Amazonas - UFAM, Av. General Rodrigo Octavio Jordão Ramos, 6200 - Coroado I, 69080-900 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

6. Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Aleixo, 69067-375 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

7. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética, Conservação e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Av. André Araújo, 2936, Aleixo, 69067-375 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

8. Instituto de Saúde e Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas - UFAM, Estrada Coari Mamiá, 305, Espírito Santo, 69460-000 Coari, Amazonas, Brazil

9. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia - PPGZOO, Universidade Federal do Amazonas - UFAM, Av. General Rodrigo Octavio Jordão Ramos, 6200, Coroado I, 69080-900 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

10. Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Amazonas - UFAM, Av. General Rodrigo Octavio Jordão Ramos, 6200, Coroado I, 69080-900 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

The primary (PSR), secondary (SSR) and adult (ASR) sex ratios of sexually reproducing organisms influence their life histories. Species exhibiting reversed sexual size dimorphism (RSD) may imply a higher cost of female production or lower female survival, thus generating biases in PSR, SSR and/or ASR towards males. The Harpy Eagle is the world's largest eagle exhibiting RSD. This species is found in the Neotropical region and is currently threatened with extinction. We used molecular markers to determine the sex of 309 Harpy Eagles spanning different life stages—eaglets, subadults and adults—from 1904 to 2021 within the Amazon Rainforest and Atlantic Forest. Sex ratios for all life stages revealed a female-biased deviation across all periods and regions. Our results suggest that the population bias towards females is an evolutionary ecological pattern of this species, and SSR and ASR likely emerged from the PSR. This natural bias towards females may be compensated by an earlier sexual maturation age of males, implying a longer reproductive lifespan and a higher proportion of sexually active males. A better understanding of the Harpy Eagle's life history can contribute to understanding sex-role evolution and enable more appropriate conservation strategies for the species.

Funder

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Tiergarten Nürnberg

Vale S.A.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

Norte Energia

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Inovação do Espírito Santo

Instituto Internacional de Educação do Brasil

Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza

Beauval Nature

Instituto Uiraçu

Veracel