排序方式: 共有140条查询结果,搜索用时 15 毫秒
51.
Female choice and male–male aggression are two modes of sexual selection that can lead to elaboration of male morphological
and behavioral traits. In lek-mating species, male mating success is often strongly skewed, and it is puzzling why variation
in male traits is still observed given directional female choice. If male traits correlated with reproductive success are
honest signals of male quality, there may be survival costs associated with the expression of those traits. In this study,
we examined whether morphological, behavioral, and territorial traits are correlated with male mating success and survival
in the lek-mating greater prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido). We introduce a novel application of multinomial discrete choice models for analysis of female mate choice behavior. We
found that behavioral and territorial attributes showed 6.5 times more variability among males than morphological traits.
Both display and aggressive behaviors were strong predictors of male mating success, suggesting that both female choice and
male–male aggression were important in determining mating success among male greater prairie-chickens. Moreover, annual survival
of male prairie-chickens was independent of mating success and male traits. Females appear to be choosing males based on behavioral
traits where large variation exists between males (coefficient of variation >30%). Behavioral traits were the most important
factor in determining mating success of male prairie-chickens, but the mechanism underlying this relationship is unknown.
In the future, experimental manipulations of male hormones or parasite loads could bridge the proximate mechanisms and ultimate
consequences of factors mediating male mating success in lek-mating grouse. 相似文献
52.
Recent studies question the importance of indirect genetic effects in explaining female benefits of extra-pair matings in
socially monogamous species. Compiling data on 14 wild bird species, Arnqvist and Kirkpatrick (Am Nat 165:S26–S37, 2005) estimated
the average direct cost in terms or reduced parental care to be an order of magnitude larger than the potential effect of
genetic benefits. This study has sparked a debate regarding potential confounding factors but no consensus appears to have
been reached. Here we focus on the implicit assumption that all individuals face the same selective pressures and argue that
this assumption is probably too strong in most cases. Using a theoretical model we show that when the amount of resources
that a male provides depends on territory quality, his physical condition or prospects for alternative breeding opportunities,
a female may respond to such differences by altering her mating behaviour. Such confounding factors may lead to direct fitness
effects that result in negative correlations between paternal care and paternity even if females that produce extra-pair young
experience a net benefit. Negative correlations can also result when males forcefully seek copulations and females resist
them. We discuss the studies included in the analysis in this light, and conclude that current analyses on the net selective
pressures remain uninformative. In addition to considering average effects across individuals and species we suggest giving
attention to individual differences and the influence of ecological factors such as territory quality and predation pressures
on female mating behaviour. 相似文献
53.
Although assortative mating is widespread among long-lived monogamous birds, the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear
in many species. In this study, we analysed assortative mating by age and body mass in the common tern Sterna hirundo with special regard to mate choice decisions of newly paired birds. To assess whether assortative mating by age is an active
decision involving either homotypic or directional preferences or rather a passive process due to restricted availability
of potential mates, we analysed the influence of age-dependent arrival date and cohort size. Furthermore, we looked for direct
benefits in terms of reproductive success. Common terns mated assortatively by age and arrival date but not by body mass at
arrival. Assortative mating by age was age dependent and was detected mainly in younger birds, whereas birds older than 8 years
rather re-paired with younger ones. The availability of same-aged mates was restricted by cohort size and arrival date. We
found no general evidence for better reproductive performance of same-aged pairs. Instead, relative reproductive success was
related to own age and the relative age of mate: It should be advantageous for any bird to acquire an old mate; hence, assortative
mating by age seems to be beneficial only for old terns but not for young ones. Age-assortative mating in common terns occurred
by both passive and active processes, which are not mutually exclusive. Our results do not indicate a homotypic but a directional
preference and support the theory that high-quality (older/experienced) individuals tend to mate assortatively if same-aged
mates are available, which leaves low-quality (young/inexperienced) individuals to mate among themselves. 相似文献
54.
Sperm allocation in an uncertain world 总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3
Models of optimal sperm allocation are constructed using stochastic dynamic programming techniques, yielding predictions
about sperm allocation when males mate sequentially, breeding time is finite, sperm stores are limited and females vary in
quality. The models suggest that uncertainty of future reproductive opportunities should favour withholding of sperm, so that
males tend to allocate less (for a given level of stored sperm) earlier in the breeding season. This effect is more pronounced
the greater the variance in female quality. We also show that while allocation will be influenced by mate value, it is not
necessarily optimal to allocate preferentially to high-quality females, since the benefits of a higher-quality mate may be
offset by increased risk of rejection of sperm or higher sperm competition. The relationship between mate quality and level
of allocation will depend strongly on the amount of remaining stored sperm, with males whose supplies are depleted being more
likely to favour lower-quality partners.
Received: 12 September 1997 / Accepted after revision: 28 June 1998 相似文献
55.
Sexual conflict over fertilizations: female bluethroats escape male paternity guards 总被引:5,自引:0,他引:5
Arild Johnsen Jan T. Lifjeld Percy A. Rohde Craig R. Primmer Hans Ellegren 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1998,43(6):401-408
Extra-pair copulations create a potential for sexual conflict in pair-bonding birds. Here we report an experimental study
of the bluethroat, Luscinia s. svecica, in which the throat ornament of males was blackened with Nyanzol D in order to reduce their sexual attractiveness and thus
increase the sexual conflict over fertilizations. In an earlier study, we showed that males blackened before pairing had a
lower success in attracting social mates than controls, whereas males blackened after pairing guarded their mates more intensely
and sang less than controls. Here we add behavioural data from one more year on males blackened after pairing and corroborate
our previous finding that the manipulation caused males to guard their mates more intensely and advertise less for additional
mates. Blackened males did not suffer more intrusions from neighbouring males than did controls. Paternity analyses of the
combined data set, using multilocus DNA fingerprinting and microsatellite typing, revealed that blackened males lost significantly
more paternity than controls. There was also a tendency for blackened males to show a lower success in achieving extra-pair
fertilizations. These results indicate that females have the upper hand in the sexual conflict over fertilizations, as females
paired with unattractive males can achieve more extra-pair paternity despite the greater constraint posed by the intensified
mate guarding. Still, within the blackened group, there were some indications that males guarding more intensely and singing
less had higher paternity than males guarding less and singing more, suggesting a marginal positive effect of guarding for
unattractive males. Male mate guarding must nevertheless be considered a best-of-a-bad-job strategy in this species.
Received: 4 December 1997 / Accepted after revision: 14 June 1998 相似文献
56.
For intersexual selection to occur, it is necessary that females choose between males. It is now well appreciated that constraints
exist, which preclude females sampling all the available males in a population. These constraints are likely to have caused
the evolution of sampling rules (such as the “best-of-n” rule) by which females sample males. Here we investigate the impact of female subsampling of the male population, not on
the evolution of sampling behaviour, but on the population-level correlation between a male trait and currencies such as reproductive
success. This study is important as it illustrates when population-level correlations can be safely used to infer the presence
and strength of sexual selection in the field. We find that the correlation between a male trait and a mate choice variable
rises steeply as the number of males sampled by each female increases, flattening above seven to ten males sampled. This shape
is found to be remarkably robust, and little affected by, for example, the mate choice variable used, by noise in assessment,
by sampling behaviour depending on female quality, or by population size. The only variable found to have a large impact is
male clumping according to their “quality”. If females are sampling about four males, the maximum correlation that can be
found at the population level is in the range 0.4–0.6, perhaps as little as 0.1 if males are strongly clumped. A recent review
of the literature suggests that four is the average number of males that females sample. Thus, the absence of a strong correlation
cannot by itself be used to infer that sexual selection is weak, as it may be due to females sampling few males.
Received: 18 May 1998 / Accepted after revision: 18 July 1998 相似文献
57.
Changes in male guppy courting distance in response to a fluctuating light environment 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
In the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), effective courting by a male requires visual contact with the female. Therefore, environmental light intensity may affect
male display behavior, particularly initial courtship distance. We found that male guppies courted at exact and predictable
distances from the female given a particular light level, both in field and laboratory studies. In lower light levels (<0.1 μmol m−2 s−1), for example at dawn, dusk, or under heavy canopy, males court females at closer and less variable distances (<3 cm). At
higher light levels, which occur during most of the day and with less canopy cover, males often court from twice or three
times further out. Light levels over guppy streams change over relatively short time periods and ranges, correlating with
variation in courtship distances. Laboratory manipulations of irradiance confirmed that courtship distance depends on illumination.
Hence, courtship distances may be set by the effect of lighting on signal efficiency, minimization of energy or time expenditures,
or predation risk.
Received: 16 December 1997 / Accepted after revision: 8 August 1998 相似文献
58.
Does female aggression prevent polygyny? An experiment with pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) 总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1
The female aggression hypothesis states that resident females may be able to prevent polygyny by behaving aggressively towards
intruding females. A critical test of the hypothesis is to provide prospecting females with a choice between displaying mated
males some of which have initial mates with artificially reduced levels of aggressiveness. Here we present a mate choice experiment
on pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca. The species is a cavity nester, and resident females were prevented from behaving aggressively by enclosing them within
their own nestboxes: narrowing the entrance hole so that they could not escape but could still let their head out and have
some contact with their mate. This treament had only a minor influence on male behaviour. We studied whether the experimental
males were better able to attract a new female than a control group of mated males. Four predictions from the female aggression
hypothesis were supported. (1) Mating success of control males was positively related to the distance between their primary
and secondary territory. (2) For experimental males, mating success was unrelated to interterritorial distance. (3) Experimental
males had higher mating success than control males when the interterritorial distance was short but (4) not when it was long.
Experimental males had much lower mating success than unmated males, as would be expected if prospecting females are able
to discover male mating status from cues other than visits by primary females to their mates' secondary nest sites.
Received: 5 January 1998 / Accepted after revision: 30 December 1998 相似文献
59.
Association patterns of sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna): alternative hypotheses 总被引:3,自引:0,他引:3
Caitlin Gabor 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,46(5):333-340
Individuals may associate with each other due to a variety of selective forces, such as intra- and intersexual selection,
and conspecific recognition. Previous studies have concluded that mate choice governs association behavior in polygynous species
of fish. I examined whether mate choice underlies the preference for larger individuals by examining preference for association
(time spent in proximity to a fish) not only between opposite-sex individuals but also between same-sex individuals of the
live-bearing sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna). Males and females from three size classes were tested with a large and a small object fish of the same and opposite sex.
Females preferred to associate with larger over smaller males. Males also preferred to associate with larger over smaller
females, as expected. The same female and male test fish also preferred to associate with larger over smaller fish of the
same sex. Moreover, females demonstrated no significant difference in their strength of preference (large–small) when offered
males or females. The same held true for males. When males and females were subsequently tested with one large male and one
large female, females tended to prefer large males while males showed no significant preference for association based on sex.
In another experiment, females were tested with a large female and a small male, and significantly preferred the former. These
findings suggest that association patterns may have arisen under a variety of conditions, such as predation pressures, shoaling
behavior, and associative preference behavior. The assumption that association behavior is a uniformly sufficient predictor
of mate choice in fish needs to be re-examined for P. latipinna and other species.
Received: 6 November 1998 / Received in revised form: 12 May 1999 / Accepted: 12 May 1999 相似文献
60.
Sexual signalling and viability in a wolf spider (Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata): measurements under laboratory and field conditions 总被引:4,自引:0,他引:4
Janne S. Kotiaho Rauno V. Alatalo Johanna Mappes Silja Parri 《Behavioral ecology and sociobiology》1999,46(2):123-128
This study examined the crucial prediction of the conditional-handicap theory, the relationship between male sexual trait
size and male viability, in the wolf spider Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata. In this species, males court females by drumming dry leaves with their abdomen, and males with the highest drumming rate
enjoy highest mating success. We determined male drumming rate, body mass, and mobility, which reflects mate-searching activity,
in relation to male survival. Because it is often difficult to know how results obtained from laboratory studies reflect the
natural world, particularly when the measured variable is survival, we repeated our study in both laboratory and field conditions.
Males drumming at the highest rate survived better than males drumming at a lower rate in both laboratory and field conditions.
These results are in accordance with the predictions of conditional-handicap models of sexual selection. Survival was independent
of male body mass and there was no significant correlation between male drumming activity and body mass. However, large males
moved further than smaller males, and males moving longer distances lost less mass than those moving shorter distances. These
results suggest that, moving, and consequently mate-searching activity, may be a condition-dependent trait and that there
may be a advantage for large males in mate searching.
Received: 22 October 1998 / Received in revised form: 28 January 1999 / Accepted: 14 February 1999 相似文献