Yan Hanlin, Wang Longwu, Liang Wei
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571158, China.
School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, 550001, China.
Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl. 2024 Oct 16;25:101003. doi: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2024.101003. eCollection 2024 Dec.
The puncture resistance hypothesis suggests that thick-shelled eggs of parasitic birds can resist puncture-ejection by the host. However, few experiments have yet been conducted to test this hypothesis in terms of natural host behavior (e.g., pecking at foreign eggs). To explore whether the eggshells of common cuckoos () are resistant to puncture-ejection by their common hosts, Oriental reed warblers (), we designed experiments to investigate if and how breeding Oriental reed warblers peck at foreign eggs that includes common cuckoo, Oriental reed warbler and budgerigar () eggs. The results showed that, given the same frequency of egg pecking, the probability of eggshell breakage was 87.5% for eggs of the Oriental reed warbler and 0% for eggs of the common cuckoo, with a significant difference ( = 0.001, Fisher's exact test). Our study shows clearly that common cuckoos' eggshells are less susceptible to puncture-ejection than those of Oriental reed warblers and budgerigars. This indicates that the eggshells of common cuckoos can resist host Oriental reed warblers' puncture-ejection, supporting the puncture resistance hypothesis.
抗穿刺假说认为，寄生鸟类的厚壳蛋能够抵抗宿主的穿刺和抛出行为。然而，目前很少有实验从自然宿主行为（如啄食外来蛋）的角度来验证这一假说。为了探究普通杜鹃（）的蛋壳是否能抵抗其常见宿主东方大苇莺（）的穿刺和抛出行为，我们设计了实验来研究繁殖期的东方大苇莺是否以及如何啄食包括普通杜鹃蛋、东方大苇莺蛋和虎皮鹦鹉（）蛋在内的外来蛋。结果显示，在啄蛋频率相同的情况下，东方大苇莺蛋的蛋壳破损概率为87.5%，而普通杜鹃蛋的蛋壳破损概率为0%，二者存在显著差异（=0.001，Fisher精确检验）。我们的研究清楚地表明，普通杜鹃的蛋壳比东方大苇莺和虎皮鹦鹉的蛋壳更不易被穿刺和抛出。这表明普通杜鹃的蛋壳能够抵抗宿主东方大苇莺的穿刺和抛出行为，支持了抗穿刺假说。
