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151 results for “mate preference”
Female mate preferences do not predict male sexual signals across populations
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Data from: Poison frog color morphs express assortative mate preferences in allopatry but not sympatry
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Effects of chronic and acute predation risk on sexual ornamentation and mating preferences
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Data from: Hybridization and postzygotic isolation promote reinforcement of male mating preferences in a diverse group of fishes with traditional sex roles
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Data from: Strength of female mate preferences in temperature manipulation study supports the signal reliability hypothesis
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Elevated temperature increases reproductive investment in less preferred mates in the invasive European corn borer moth
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Data from: Floral spatial morphological characteristics preferences facilitate mating and predation in flower-visiting spiders
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Colorful traits in avian females, individual condition, reproductive performance, and male mate preferences: A meta-analytic approach
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Mating preferences can drive expansion or contraction of major histocompatibility complex gene family
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Simulated data for: The evolution of mating preferences for genetic attractiveness and quality in the presence of sensory bias
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Data and code for: Male-male contest limits the expression of assortative mate preferences in a polymorphic poison frog
<p>Co-divergence of sexual traits and mate preferences can lead to assortative mating and subsequently reproductive isolation. However, mate choice rarely operates without intrasexual competition, and the effects of the latter on speciation are often overlooked. Maintaining trait polymorphisms despite gene flow and limiting assortative female preferences for less-competitive male phenotypes are two important roles that male-male competition may play in the speciation process. Both roles rely on the assumption that male-male competition limits the expression of divergent female preferences. We tested this assumption in the highly color-polymorphic strawberry poison frog (<i>Oophaga pumilio</i>). Females prefer males of the local color, suggesting that reproductive isolation may be evolving among color morphs. However, this inference does not account for male-male competition, which is also color-mediated. We housed females with two differently-colored males, and compared reproductive patterns when the more attractive male was the territory holder <i>versus</i> when he was the non-territorial male. Females mated primarily with the territory winner, regardless of coloration, suggesting that when a choice must be made between the two, male territoriality overrides female preferences for male coloration<i>.</i> Our results highlight the importance of considering the combined effects of mate choice and intrasexual competition in shaping phenotypic divergence and speciation.</p>
Data from: The ecological stage changes benefits of mate choice and drives preference divergence
<p>Preference divergence is thought to contribute to reproductive isolation. Ecology can alter the way selection acts on female preferences, making them most likely to diverge when ecological conditions vary among populations. We present a novel mechanism for ecologically dependent sexual selection, termed 'the ecological stage' to highlight its ecological dependence. Our hypothesized mechanism emphasizes that males and females interact over mating in a specific ecological context, and different ecological conditions change the costs and benefits of mating interactions, selecting for different preferences in distinct environments and different male traits, especially when traits are condition dependent. We test key predictions of this mechanism in a sympatric threespine stickleback species pair. We used a maternal half-sib split-clutch design for both species, mating females to attractive and unattractive males, and raising progeny on alternate diets that mimic the specialized diets of the species in nature. We estimated the benefits of mate choice for an indicator trait (male nuptial color) by measuring many fitness components across the lifetimes of both sons and daughters from these crosses. We analyzed fitness data using a combination of aster and mixed models. We found that many benefits of mating with high color males depended on both species and diet. These results support the ecological stage hypothesis for stickleback. Finally, we discuss the potential role of this mechanism for other taxa and highlight its ability to enhance reproductive isolation as speciation proceeds, thus facilitating the evolution of strong reproductive isolation.</p>
Data from: Extra-pair mating in a passerine bird with highly duplicated MHC class II: Preference for the golden mean
Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) are essential in vertebrate adaptive immunity, and they are highly diverse and duplicated in many lineages. While it is widely established that pathogen-mediated selection maintains MHC diversity through balancing selection, the role of mate choice in shaping MHC diversity is debated. Here, we investigate female mating preferences for MHC class II (MHCII) in the bluethroat (<i></i>Luscinia svecica<i></i>), a passerine bird with high levels of extra-pair paternity and extremely duplicated MHCII. We genotyped family samples with mixed paternity and categorized their MHCII alleles according to their functional properties in peptide binding. Our results strongly indicate that females select extra-pair males in a non-random, self-matching manner that provides offspring with an allelic repertoire size closer to the population mean, as compared to offspring sired by the social male. This is consistent with a "compatible genes" model for extra-pair mate choice where the optimal allelic diversity is intermediate, not maximal. This "golden mean" presumably reflects a trade-off between maximizing pathogen recognition benefits and minimizing autoimmunity costs. Our study exemplifies how mate choice can reduce the population variance in individual MHC diversity and exert strong stabilizing selection on the trait. It also supports the hypothesis that extra-pair mating is adaptive through enhanced genetic quality of offspring.
Data from: Facultative pupal mating in Heliconius erato: implications for mate choice, female preference, and speciation
Mating systems have broad impacts on how sexual selection and mate choice operate within a species, but studies of mating behavior in the laboratory may not reflect how these processes occur in the wild. Here, we examined the mating behavior of the neotropical butterfly Heliconius erato in the field by releasing larvae and virgin females and observing how they mated. H. erato is considered a pupal-mating species (i.e., males mate with females as they emerge from the pupal case). However, we observed only two teneral mating events, and experimentally released virgins were almost all mated upon recapture. Our study confirms the presence of some pupal-mating behavior in H. erato, but suggests that adult mating is likely the prevalent mating strategy in this species. These findings have important implications for the role of color pattern and female mate choice in the generation of reproductive isolation in this diverse genus.
Data from: Conspicuous female ornamentation and tests of male mate preference in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Sexual selection drives the evolution of exaggerated male ornaments in many animal species. Female ornamentation is now acknowledged also to be common but is generally less well understood. One example is the recently documented red female throat coloration in some threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations. Although female sticklebacks often exhibit a preference for red male throat coloration, the possibility of sexual selection on female coloration has been little studied. Using sequential and simultaneous mate choice trials, we examined male mate preferences for female throat color, as well as pelvic spine color and standard length, using wild-captured threespine sticklebacks from the Little Campbell River, British Columbia. In a multivariate analysis, we found no evidence for a population-level mate preference in males, suggesting the absence of directional sexual selection on these traits arising from male mate choice. Significant variation was detected among males in their preference functions, but this appeared to arise from differences in their mean responsiveness across mating trials and not from variation in the strength (i.e., slope) of their preference, suggesting the absence of individual-level preferences as well. When presented with conspecific intruder males, male response decreased as intruder red throat coloration increased, suggesting that males can discriminate color and other aspects of phenotype in our experiment and that males may use these traits in intrasexual interactions. The results presented here are the first to explicitly address male preference for female throat color in threespine sticklebacks.
Data from: Beauty in the eyes of the beholders: color vision is tuned to mate preference in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
A broad range of animals use visual signals to assess potential mates, and the theory of sensory exploitation suggests variation in visual systems drives mate preference variation due to sensory bias. Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata), a classic system for studies of the evolution of female mate choice, provide a unique opportunity to test this theory by looking for co-variation in visual tuning, light environment, and mate preferences. Female preference co-evolves with male coloration, such that guppy females from 'low predation' environments have stronger preferences for males with more orange/red coloration than do females from 'high predation' environments. Here we show that color vision also varies across populations, with 'low' predation guppies investing more of their color vision to detect red/orange coloration. In independently colonized watersheds, guppies expressed higher levels of both LWS-1 and LWS-3 (the most abundant LWS opsins) in 'low predation' populations than 'high predation' populations at a time that corresponds to differences in cone cell abundance. We also observed that the frequency of a coding polymorphism differed between high and low predation populations. Together this shows that the variation underlying preference could be explained by simple changes in expression and coding of opsins, providing important candidate genes to investigate the genetic basis of variation in this model system.
Data from: Developmental effects of visual environment on species-assortative mating preferences in Lake Victoria cichlid fish
Local adaptation can be a potent force in speciation, with environmental heterogeneity leading to niche specialization and population divergence. However, local adaption often requires non-random mating in order to generate reproductive isolation. Population divergence in sensory properties can be particularly consequential in speciation, affecting both ecological adaptation and sexual communication. Pundamilia pundamila and Pundamilia nyererei are two closely related African cichlid species that differ in male coloration, blue vs. red. They co-occur at rocky islands in southern Lake Victoria, but inhabit different depth ranges with different light environments. The species differ in colour vision properties and females exert species-specific preferences for blue vs. red males. Here, we investigated the mechanistic link between colour vision and preference, which could provide a rapid route to reproductive isolation. We tested the behavioural components of this link by experimentally manipulating colour perception – we raised both species and their hybrids under light conditions mimicking shallow and deep habitats - and tested female preference for blue and red males under both conditions. We found that rearing light significantly affected female preference: shallow-reared females responded more strongly to P. pundamilia males and deep-reared females favored P. nyererei males - implying that visual development causally affects mate choice. These results are consistent with sensory-drive predictions, suggesting that the visual environment is key to behavioural isolation of these species. However, the observed plasticity could also make the species barrier vulnerable to environmental change: species-assortative preferences were weaker in females that were reared in the other species' light condition.
Data from: Female mate preferences for male body size and shape promote sexual isolation in threespine sticklebacks
Female mate preferences for ecologically relevant traits may enhance natural selection, leading to rapid divergence. They may also forge a link between mate choice within species and sexual isolation between species. Here, we examine female mate preference for two ecologically important traits: body size and body shape. We measured female preferences within and between species of benthic, limnetic, and anadromous threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus species complex). We found that mate preferences differed between species and between contexts (i.e., within vs. between species). Within species, anadromous females preferred males that were deep bodied for their size, benthic females preferred larger males (as measured by centroid size), and limnetic females preferred males that were more limnetic shaped. In heterospecific mating trials between benthics and limnetics, limnetic females continued to prefer males that were more limnetic like in shape when presented with benthic males. Benthic females showed no preferences for size when presented with limnetic males. These results show that females use ecologically relevant traits to select mates in all three species and that female preference has diverged between species. These results suggest that sexual selection may act in concert with natural selection on stickleback size and shape. Further, our results suggest that female preferences may track adaptation to local environments and contribute to sexual isolation between benthic and limnetic sticklebacks.
Data from: Modality interactions alter the shape of acoustic mate preference functions in gray treefrogs
Sexual selection takes place in complex environments where females evaluating male mating signals are confronted with stimuli from multiple sources and modalities. The pattern of expression of female preferences may be influenced by interactions between modalities, changing the shape of female preference functions, and thus ultimately altering the selective landscape acting on male signal evolution. We tested the hypothesis that the responses of female gray treefrogs, Hyla versicolor, to acoustic male advertisement calls are affected by interactions with visual stimuli. We measured preference functions for several call traits under two experimental conditions: unimodal (only acoustic signals presented), and multimodal (acoustic signals presented along with a video-animated calling male). We found that females were more responsive to multimodal stimulus presentations and, compared to unimodal playbacks, had weaker preferences for temporal call characteristics. We compared the preference functions obtained in these two treatments to the distribution of male call characteristics to make inferences on the strength and direction of selection expected to act on male calls. Modality interactions have the potential to influence the course of signal evolution and thus are an important consideration in sexual selection studies.
Data from: Mating preference for novel phenotypes can be explained by general neophilia in female guppies
<p>Understanding how genetic variation is maintained in ecologically-important traits is a fundamental question in evolutionary biology. Male Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) exhibit extreme genetic diversity in color patterns within populations, which is believed to be promoted by a female mating preference for rare or novel patterns. However, the origins of this preference remain unclear. Here, we test the hypothesis that mating preference for novel phenotypes is a by-product of general neophilia that evolved in response to selection in non-mating contexts. We measured among-female variation in preference for eight different, novel stimuli that spanned four ecological contexts: mate choice, exploration, foraging, and social (but non-sexual) interactions. Females exhibited preference for novelty in 6 out of 8 tests. Individual variation in preference for novelty was positively correlated among all 8 types of stimuli. Furthermore, factor analysis revealed a single axis of general neophilia that accounts for 61% of individual variation in preference for novel color patterns. The single-factor structure of neophilia suggests that interest in novelty is governed primarily by shared processes that transcend context. Because neophilia likely has a sizable heritable component, our results provide evidence that mating preference for novel phenotypes may be a non-adaptive by-product of natural selection on neophilia.</p>
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