Penguins do not have everlasting 'love' as we believe: Study
WeirdNews
“Divorce” rate in them much higher than in humans
(Web Desk) - Penguins do not have everlasting love as we have often believed.
Researchers in Australia have found that the “divorce” rate in a megacolony of Little Penguins is much higher than in humans.
Many penguin species are thought to be socially monogamous, the idea that they choose mates for life, is a common misconception.
While Little Penguins on Phillip Island in Australia often have the same breeding partner for many years, experts believe that divorce rates among the species may reach up to 50 per cent. The study was published in Ecology and Evolution.
Scientists at Monash University observed nearly 250 “divorces” among nearly a thousand penguin pairs over the period of 12 breeding seasons. This is roughly 21 break-ups in a year from 2000 to 2013.
In contrast, the annual divorce rate per thousand marriages in the United States is about 2.4, almost 10 times lower than in the penguins studied.
The megacolony comprises over 37,000 Little Penguins. According to the researchers, their sample size provides a good indication of what may have been happening broadly.
The researchers counted the divorce in penguins when a tagged one from the previous year’s breeding season was seen with a new mate in the colony. A penguin’s choice to stay with a partner or not was based on offspring.
“In good times, they largely stick with their partners, although there's often a bit of hanky-panky happening on the side,” said ecophysiologist Richard Reina from Monash, who studied the penguin colony on the island for 20 years.
“However, after a poor reproductive season they may try to find a new partner for the next season to increase their breeding success.”
The Little Penguins are not faithful and are not the only such species that do not have unconditional “love”, as humans believe.
While most penguin species mate with the same partners as the year before during the breeding season, their bonds may not necessarily last for life.
Emperor penguins and Adélie penguins are not known to be sexually monogamous and often take part in “extracurricular activities” even when they have a partner.
According to an older study from 1999, only 15 per cent of Emperor penguins stay with the same partner for the next breeding season. While other penguin species have shown higher rates of social monogamy of nearly 90 per cent.
The divorce rates among the Little Penguins may suggest the success of a breeding season. If the divorce rate stays below about 18 per cent, it is more likely that the breeding season will be successful. However, higher rates may not always be a bad choice.
“Little penguins and other seabirds that prolong their pair bond over multiple seasons experience increased reproductive success over time,” the researchers explain.
“However, divorce may also be an adaptive tactic to increase longer-term reproductive success, especially when the previous breeding success was low, a higher-quality mate becomes available or usurps a lower-quality individual, or environmental events prevent or delay re-pairing.”
