Competitive females are successful females; phenotype,mechanism, and selection in a common songbird |
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Authors: | Kristal E Cain Ellen D Ketterson |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA;(2) Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA |
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Abstract: | In a variety of taxa, male reproductive success is positively related to the expression of costly traits such as large body
size, ornaments, armaments, and aggression. These traits are thought to improve male competitive ability and, thus, access
to limited reproductive resources. Females of many species also express competitive traits. However, we know very little about
the consequences of individual variation in competitive traits and the mechanisms that regulate their expression in females.
Consequently, it is currently unclear whether females express competitive traits owing to direct selection or as an indirect
result of selection on males. Here, we examine females of a mildly dimorphic songbird (Junco hyemalis) to determine whether females show positive covariance in traits (morphology and behavior) that may be important in a competition.
We also examine whether trait expression relates either to testosterone (T) in terms of mechanism or to reproductive success
in terms of function. We found that larger females were more aggressive and that greater ability to produce T in response
to a physiological challenge consisting of a standardized injection of gonadotropin-releasing hormone predicted some measures
of female body size and aggression. Finally, we found that aggressive females had greater reproductive success. We conclude
that T may influence female phenotype and that females may benefit from expressing a competitive phenotype. We also suggest
that the mild dimorphism observed in many species may be due in part to direct selection on females rather than simply a correlated
response to selection in males. |
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