Pre- and post-mating sexual selection both favor large males in a rainbowfish |
| |
Authors: | Michael J Young Leigh W Simmons Jonathan P Evans |
| |
Institution: | (1) Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology M092, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia |
| |
Abstract: | Sexual selection can act through female choice and male–male competition. Although both processes can act simultaneously,
they are typically studied independently. Here, we adopt a more integrated approach to studying sexual selection by incorporating
measures of both processes using the western rainbowfish Melanotaenia australis, a freshwater fish endemic to northwestern Australia. We assessed male–male competition and female choice separately while
measuring the performance of individual males under both processes and used paternity analyses to estimate male reproductive
success. We then related the performance of males during each of these stages to their phenotype, which was described using
linear measures of size and color pattern traits, and spectrographic measures of the reflectance of color patches. We found
that female choice favored relatively large males and that these preferences were consistent within individual females and
repeatable between different females. Larger males were also more dominant in the competition trials and sired the majority
of offspring produced when females spawned. There was little evidence to suggest that sexual selection acted on male color
patterns either via female choice or male contest competition or during subsequent post-mating episodes of sexual selection.
We conclude, therefore, that male–male competition and female choice act concordantly to favor relatively large males and
that these patterns of mating success are reflected during post-mating episodes of sexual selection. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|