Mik R. Lehman, Marco González-Santoro, Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
While there are many studies documenting female mating preferences across taxa, male mate choice remains relatively understudied. Male mate choice often develops when there is variation in female quality and thus the fitness benefits of mating with particular females. Specifically, males tend to prefer females with traits that confer direct fitness benefits such as large body size, which may be linked with high fecundity. Prior work has shown that females of the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, prefer males bearing certain coloration (most often the female’s own color), and that this preference can be learned through maternal imprinting. Females have been shown to prefer larger males as well. Here we test whether similar mate preferences for color and size exist in males of this species using two-way choice tests on captive bred male O. pumilio. In each test focal males were placed in an arena with two stimulus females: either both of the same size but differing in color, or both of the same color but differing in size. We found only weak evidence for behavioral biases toward particular colors and no evidence for biases toward larger females, suggesting that males of O. pumilio do not predictably choose mates based on these female traits. Despite several aspects of their natural history that suggest males have reasons to be choosy, our findings suggest that the cost of mate rejection may outweigh any fitness benefits derived from being selective of mates. Studies of additional populations, ideally conducted on wild individuals, are needed to better understand the range of conditions under which males may exhibit mate choice and the types of traits on which they base these choices.
Significance statement
To fully understand the fitness landscapes and evolutionary trajectories that result from sexual selection, we need to understand when and how the mate preferences of the two sexes act and interact. While female mate choice has been widely studied, male mate choice remains poorly understood. To help bridge this gap, we studied male mate preferences in the strawberry poison frog Oophaga pumilio, a small brightly colored frog for which female preferences for male color and size have been well-documented. We found no evidence that male O. pumilio exhibit mate preferences based on female size and little evidence for male mate preferences based on female color. This is surprising given that larger females are often more fecund, male O. pumilio are known to exhibit color-based behavioral biases in the context of male-male competition, and both sexes provide parental care.
摘要尽管有许多研究记录了不同类群的雌性交配偏好，但对雄性交配选择的研究相对较少。雄性择偶通常是在雌性质量存在差异时产生的，因此与特定雌性交配可获得不同的适配利益。具体来说，雄性倾向于选择具有直接体能优势特征的雌性，如体型大，这可能与高繁殖力有关。先前的研究表明，草莓毒蛙（Oophaga pumilio）的雌蛙更喜欢具有特定颜色（通常是雌蛙自己的颜色）的雄蛙，而且这种偏好可以通过母体印记学会。雌蛙也喜欢体型较大的雄蛙。在这里，我们通过对人工饲养的雄性 O. pumilio 进行双向选择测试，来检验该物种的雄性是否也存在类似的对颜色和体型的配偶偏好。在每次测试中，雄性都会与两只刺激雌性同场竞技：或者两只刺激雌性的体型相同但颜色不同，或者两只刺激雌性的颜色相同但体型不同。我们只发现了一些微弱的证据，表明雄性对特定颜色有偏好，而对体型较大的雌性则没有偏好，这表明O. pumilio雄性不会根据这些雌性特征来选择配偶。尽管从自然史的多个方面来看，雄性有理由挑三拣四，但我们的研究结果表明，拒绝配偶的代价可能超过了选择配偶所带来的任何健康益处。我们需要对更多的种群（最好是野生个体）进行研究，以更好地了解雄性可能表现出择偶行为的条件范围，以及它们做出这些选择所依据的性状类型。意义声明为了充分了解性选择所产生的适应性景观和进化轨迹，我们需要了解两性的择偶偏好何时以及如何发生作用和相互作用。虽然雌性配偶选择已被广泛研究，但对雄性配偶选择的了解仍然很少。为了弥补这一差距，我们研究了草莓毒蛙 Oophaga pumilio 的雄性配偶偏好。我们没有发现雄性 O. pumilio 根据雌性体型表现出交配偏好的证据，也没有发现雄性根据雌性体色表现出交配偏好的证据。鉴于体型较大的雌性通常繁殖力更强，雄性 O. pumilio 在雄性与雄性的竞争中会表现出基于颜色的行为偏好，而且雌雄都会提供亲代照料，因此这种现象令人惊讶。
期刊介绍：
The journal publishes reviews, original contributions and commentaries dealing with quantitative empirical and theoretical studies in the analysis of animal behavior at the level of the individual, group, population, community, and species.
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