Immune-Mediated Change in the Expression of a Sexual Trait Predicts Offspring Survival in the Wild

BACKGROUND: The "good genes" theory of sexual selection postulates that females choose mates that will improve their offspring's fitness through the inheritance of paternal genes. In spite of the attention that this hypothesis has given rise to, the empirical evidence remains sparse, mostly because of the difficulties of controlling for the many environmental factors that may covary with both the paternal phenotype and offspring fitness. Here, we tested the hypothesis that offspring sired by males of a preferred phenotype should have better survival in an endangered bird, the houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We tested if natural and experimentally-induced variation in courtship display (following an inflammatory challenge) predicts the survival of offspring. Chicks were produced by artificial insemination of females, ensuring that any effect on survival could only arise from the transfer of paternal genes. One hundred and twenty offspring were equipped with radio transmitters, and their survival monitored in the wild for a year. This allowed assessment of the potential benefits of paternal genes in a natural setting, where birds experience the whole range of environmental hazards. Although natural variation in sire courtship display did not predict offspring survival, sires that withstood the inflammatory insult and maintained their courtship activity sired offspring with the best survival upon release. CONCLUSIONS: This finding is relevant both to enlighten the debate on "good genes" sexual selection and the management of supportive breeding programs

First Steps Toward A Systemic Ontology

It is necessary for the so-called \u201dsystemic approach\u201d to be structured also as \u201dsystemic thinking\u201d and to show that it is capable of elaborating a philosophical perspective that tests its scope in philosophical contexts and problems that somehow are \u201dclassical\u201d: ontology, anthropology, philosophy of mind, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, the philosophy of language, social philosophy, the history of philosophy, etc. For many of these domains there already are contributions of great interest, while for others \u2014 and I think of ethics \u2014 we can glimpse a great potential still waiting to be exploited. The aim of this work is to take the first steps in the elaboration of a systemic ontology, testing its possibilities, its theoretical efficacy, its limits