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As part of a captive-breeding program to restore extirpated Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) to their native habitat in Washington, we documented mating and parental care behavior of these lagomorphs, which was previously unknown. Pygmy rabbits bred from late February through early June, and mating behavior consisted of chasing and brief copulations. Although presented with 1–4 mating partners and 1–6 mating opportunities annually, only 74% of females became pregnant each year. Unlike other lagomorphs, females dug a 16- to 35-cm natal burrow, usually separate from the residential burrow system, an average of 13 days after a successful copulation. Twenty-four days after copulation, females...
We studied patterns of paternity in 840 nestling bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) from 191 pairbonded adults and the chicks they reared in west central New York, USA, during 19831986, using allozyme data (4 variable loci). Thirty-six (4.3%) nestlings exhibited genotypes that excluded a putative parent as a genetic parent. Using the method of Westneat et al. (1987) we estimated that 14.6% of the nestlings were sired by extrapair copulations and that 28% of the nests contained = 1 nestling resulting from extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs). Rates of EPFs did not appear to be related to population density among our bobolink populations. Younger males and older females were more likely to have young in their nests sired...