Shy males lose out, but females have it easy. Divorce in Wandering Albatrosses

A Wandering Albatross displays to potential mates; journal cover photograph by Samantha Patrick

Ruijiao Sun (Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, USA) and colleagues have published open access in the journal Biology Letters on divorce in the globally Vulnerable Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Personality predicts divorce rates in humans, yet how personality traits affect divorce in wild animals remains largely unknown.  In a male-skewed population of wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans), we showed that personality predicts divorce; shyer males exhibited higher divorce rates than bolder males but no such relationship was found in females.  We propose that divorce may be caused by the intrusion of male competitors and shyer males divorce more often because of their avoidance of territorial aggression, while females have easier access to mates regardless of their personality.  Thus, personality may have important implications for the dynamics of social relationships.”

Access a related paper on divorce in Wandering Albatrosses by Ruijiao Sun and colleagues from here.

Reference:

Sun R., Van de Walle, J., Patrick, S.C., Barbraud, C., Weimerskirch, H., Delord, K. & Jenouvrier S. 2022.  Boldness predicts divorce rates in wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans).  Biology Letters 18 (9) doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0301.

John Cooper, ACAP News Correspondent, 06 October 2022