TY - JOUR AU - Møller, Anders Pape AU - Søraker, Jørgen Skavdal AU - Soler, Juan José PY - 2020 DA - 2020/10/14 TI - Extra-pair paternity and antiparasitic defence JO - Avian Research SP - 37 VL - 11 IS - 1 AB - Extra-pair paternity (EPP) in birds provides benefits in terms of more offspring, and characteristics for maintenance of this behaviour have been the subject of investigation. Microorganisms are known to be transmitted during mating, especially when mating with multiple partners, and factors reducing this cost of multiple mating are expected. Further, plumage brightness and colour intensity have been shown to be important traits to benefits from multiple mating as predicted by sexual selection. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the rate of extra-pair paternity and the relative size of the uropygial gland at the interspecific level, as the uropygial gland is an exocrine gland hypothesized to produce antiparasitic substances and further identified to affect plumage brightness. Because of the expected benefits of large uropygial gland in scenarios of sexual selection, we predicted a positive correlation with EPP. SN - 2053-7166 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-020-00226-5 DO - 10.1186/s40657-020-00226-5 ID - Møller2020 ER -