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151 results for “mate preference”
Effects of chronic and acute predation risk on sexual ornamentation and mating preferences
<p>Phenotypic plasticity is wide-spread in animals, but how plastic responses to predation threat affect traits under sexual selection and influence mating preferences is not well understood. Here, we examined how chronic predation risk during development and acute predation risk during mate choice affect the expression of male secondary sexual traits and female mating preference in the three-spined stickleback, <em>Gasterosteus</em> <em>aculeatus</em>. Males reared under chronic predation risk developed less intense red breeding colouration but showed higher courtship activity than males that grew up in a predator-free environment. Acute predation risk during mate choice did not influence male behaviour or ornamentation. Predation risk experienced during development did not affect female mating preferences, while acute predator presence induced a switch in preferences for male courtship activity. Male body size and eye colouration influenced the intensity of female mating preferences, while the trait changing most in response to predation risk during development (red colouration) had no significant impact. The observed interplay between developmental plasticity in male ornamental traits and environment-dependent female mating preferences may lead to dynamic processes altering the strength and direction of sexual selection depending on both the chronic and acute risk of predation. These processes may contribute to the maintenance of within- and among-population variation in secondary sexual traits, and may, ultimately, facilitate speciation.</p>
Independence of mate choice components (choosiness and preference functions) in Hyla versicolor
<p>Mate choice is an important cause of natural and sexual selection, driving the evolution of ornaments and promoting diversification and speciation. Mate choice decisions arise from the interaction of several components, and knowledge of whether they interact, and how, is crucial for understanding their contributions to selection. Here we focus on the relationship between preference functions (attractiveness ranking of prospective mates) and choosiness (effort invested in obtaining the preferred mate) and test the hypothesis that they are independent components of mate choice decisions. We examine individual variation in preference functions and choosiness for call duration in female <em>Hyla versicolor </em>treefrogs, and show that measures describing preference functions and choosiness are not correlated. We also found a suggestive but inconclusive pattern that both components are influenced by different factors (body measures and hormones). Independence of preference and choosiness suggests that the joint study of variation in both components is required to gain a complete understanding of how mate choice contributes to sexual selection and speciation.</p>
Elevated temperature increases reproductive investment in less preferred mates in the invasive European corn borer moth
<p>Rapidly changing environments may weaken sexual selection and lead to indiscriminate mating by interfering with the reception of mating signals or by increasing the costs associated with mate choice. If temperature alters sexual selection, it may impact population response and adaptation to climate change. Here, we examine how differences in temperature of the mating environment influence reproductive investment in the European corn borer moth (<i>Ostrinia nubilalis</i>). Mate preference in this species is known to be related to pheromone usage, with assortative mating occurring between genetically distinct E- and Z-strains that differ in the composition of female and male pheromones. We compared egg production within and between corn borer lines derived from four different populations that vary in pheromone composition and other traits. Pairs of adults were placed in a mating environment that matched the pupal environment (ambient temperature) or at elevated temperature (5ºC above the pupal environment). At ambient temperature, we found that within-line pairs produced eggs sooner and produced more egg clusters than between-line pairs. However, at elevated temperature, between-line pairs produced the same number of egg clusters as within-line pairs. These results suggest that elevated temperature increased investment in matings with typically less preferred, between-line mates. This increased investment could result in changes in gene flow among corn borer populations in warming environments.</p>
Simulated data for: The evolution of mating preferences for genetic attractiveness and quality in the presence of sensory bias
<p>This repository contains simulated datasets relating to the publication: </p> <p>Henshaw JM, Fromhage L, Jones AG (2022) The evolution of mating preferences for genetic attractiveness and quality in the presence of sensory bias. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (doi:10.1073/pnas.2206262119)</p> <p>In this paper, we simulate the evolution of female preferences for multiple male ornament types (e.g., 'Fisherian', 'handicap' and 'indicator' ornaments) that differ in their associations with genes for attractiveness and for general 'quality' (operationalized as the ability to acquire resources). We allowed for ornaments to differ in their saliency to females. We also analyze the causal mechanisms generating sexual selection (e.g., 'good genes' and 'sexy sons') using causal inference. </p> <p>Datasets are organised into ZIP files named after the corresponding figure in the publication. For further information see the publication and the file README.txt in this repository.</p>
Data from: The neurodevelopmental genes alan shepard and Neuroglian contribute to female mate preference in African Drosophila melanogaster
<p>Mate choice is a key trait that determines fitness for most sexually reproducing organisms, with females often being the choosy sex. Female preference often results in strong selection on male traits that can drive rapid divergence of traits and preferences between lineages, leading to reproductive isolation. Despite this fundamental property of female mate choice, very few loci have been identified that contribute to mate choice and reproductive isolation. We used a combination of population genetics, quantitative complementation tests, and behavioral assays to demonstrate that alan shepard and Neuroglian contribute to female mate choice, and could contribute to partial reproductive isolation between populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Our study is among the first to identify genes that contribute to female mate preference in this historically important system, where female preference is an active premating barrier to reproduction. The identification of loci that are primarily known for their roles in neurodevelopment provides intriguing questions of how female mate preference evolves in populations via changes in sensory system and higher learning brain centers.</p>
Mating preferences can drive expansion or contraction of MHC gene family
MHC-based mating rules can evolve as a way to avoid inbreeding or to increase offspring immune competence. While the role of mating preference in the MHC diversity in vertebrates has been acknowledged, its impact on individual MHC diversity has not been considered. Here, we use computer simulations to investigate how simple mating rules favouring MHC-dissimilar partners affect the evolution of the number of MHC variants in individual genomes, accompanying selection for resistance to parasites. We showed that the effect of such preferences could sometimes be dramatic. If preferences are aimed at avoiding identical alleles, e.g. under strong selection against sib-mating, the equilibrium number of MHC alleles is much smaller than under random mating. However, if the mating rule minimises the ratio of shared to different alleles in partners, MHC number is higher than under random mating. Additionally, our simulations revealed that a negative correlation between the numbers of MHC variants in mated individuals can arise from simple rules of MHC-disassortative mating. Our results reveal unexpected potential of MHC-based mating preferences to drive MHC gene family expansions or contractions and highlight the need to study the mechanistic basis of such preferences.
Colorful traits in female birds relate to individual condition, reproductive performance, and male mate preferences: A meta-analytic approach dataset
<p>Colorful traits in females are suggested to have evolved and be maintained by sexual selection. Although several studies have evaluated this idea, support is still equivocal. <span><span>Evidence has been compiled in reviews, and a handful of quantitative synthesis have explored evidence of the link between condition and specific color traits in males and females. However, understanding the potential function of females' colorful traits in sexual communication has not been the primary focus of any of those previous studies</span></span><span>. </span>Here, using a meta-analytic approach, we find that evidence from empirical studies in birds supports the idea that colorful female ornaments are positively associated with residual mass and immune response, clutch size, and male-mate preferences. Hence, colorful traits in female birds likely evolved and are maintained by sexual selection.</p>
Data from: Variation in the strength of female mate preference for male size supports the signal reliability hypothesis
<p>Both sexually selected traits and mate preferences for these traits can be condition dependent, yet how variation in preferred traits could select for condition dependent preferences has rarely been examined. The signal reliability hypothesis predicts that mate preferences vary across environments in relation to the reliability of the information preferred traits provide in those environments. Extensive variation in copy number of the <em>mc4r</em> gene on Y chromosome is correlated with adult male size in <em>Xiphophorus multilineatus</em>, when males stop growing. This genetic variation allowed us to use a split-sibling design to show that male size is more variable, and thus likely to provide reliable information about male genotype, when males were reared in a warm as compared to cold environment. Females reared in the warm environment had stronger mate preferences for male size. Understanding how the reliability of male traits can select for conditional variation in the strength of the female mate preferences will further our discovery of adaptive mate preferences. For example, the relationship between the strength of a female's mate preference and their growth rates supports previous work hypothesizing disassortative mating in relation to growth rates to mitigate a documented growth-mortality tradeoff in this species.</p>
Independence of mate choice components (choosiness and preference functions) in Hyla versicolor
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Data from: Female mate preferences on high dimensional shape variation for male species recognition traits
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Data from: Female preference for novel males constrains contemporary evolution of assortative mating in guppies
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Data from: Divergent male and female mate preferences do not explain incipient speciation between lizard lineages
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Juvenile social experience and practice have a switch-like influence on adult mate preferences in an insect
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Data from: Temperature coupling of mate attraction signals and female mate preferences in four populations of Enchenopa treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae)
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The relationship between a combinatorial processing rule and a continuous mate preference function in an insect
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Colorful traits in female birds relate to individual condition, reproductive performance, and male mate preferences: A meta-analytic approach dataset
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Data from: The neurodevelopmental genes alan shepard and Neuroglian contribute to female mate preference in African Drosophila melanogaster
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Experimental data supporting the interactive effects of mating receptivity and courtship pheromones on the scent preferences of female red-legged salamanders
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Data from: Sympatry and parapatry among rocky reef cichlids of Lake Victoria explained by female mating preferences
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Data from: Mate choice vs mate preference: inferences about color-assortative mating differ between field and lab assays of poison frog behavior
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