Extra-pair paternity in waved albatrosses

We estimated the rate of extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs) in waved albatros ses (Phoebastria irrorata) on Isla Espanola, Galapagos, Ecuador, using mult ilocus minisatellite DNA fingerprinting. Waved albatrosses are socially mon ogamous, long-lived seabirds whose main population is on Espanola. Aggressi ve extra-pair copulation (EPC) attempts have been observed in the breeding colony during the days preceding egg-laying. Our genetic analyses of 16 fam ilies (single chicks and their attending parents) revealed evidence of EPFs in four families. In all cases males were the excluded parent. These data suggest that waved albatrosses have an unusually high rate of EPF relative to taxa with similar life histories. Future behavioural observations will d etermine the extent to which forced vs. unforced EPCs contribute to this hi gh EPF rate.