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Mate Sampling Behavior Determines The Density Dependence Of Sexual Selection, J. Colton Watts, Eileen A. Hebets, Brigitte Tenhumberg
Mate Sampling Behavior Determines The Density Dependence Of Sexual Selection, J. Colton Watts, Eileen A. Hebets, Brigitte Tenhumberg
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
Theory predicts that the strength of sexual selection (i.e., how well a trait predicts mating or fertilization success) should increase with population density, yet empirical support remains mixed. We explore how this discrepancy might reflect a disconnect between current theory and our understanding of the strategies individuals use to choose mates. We demonstrate that the density dependence of sexual selection predicted by previous theory arises from the assumption that individuals automatically sample more potential mates at higher densities. We provide an updated theoretical framework for the density dependence of sexual selection by (1) developing models that clarify the mechanisms through …
A Probable Case Of Incipient Speciation In Schizocosa Wolf Spiders Driven By Allochrony, Habitat Use, And Female Mate Choice, R. Tucker Gilman, Kasey Fowler-Finn, Eileen A. Hebets
A Probable Case Of Incipient Speciation In Schizocosa Wolf Spiders Driven By Allochrony, Habitat Use, And Female Mate Choice, R. Tucker Gilman, Kasey Fowler-Finn, Eileen A. Hebets
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
There is growing evidence that speciation can occur between populations that are not geographically isolated. The emergence of assortative mating is believed to be critical to this process, but how assortative mating arises in diverging populations is poorly understood. The wolf spider genus Schizocosa has become a model system for studying mechanisms of assortative mating. We conducted a series of experiments to identify the factors that control mate-pair formation in a Schizocosa population that includes both ornamented and nonornamented males. We show that the population also includes two previously unrecognized female phenotypes. One female phenotype mates mostly or exclusively with …
Reproductive Promiscuity In The Variegated Fairy-Wren: An Alternative Reproductive Strategy In The Absence Of Helpers?, Allison E. Johnson, Stephen Pruett-Jones
Reproductive Promiscuity In The Variegated Fairy-Wren: An Alternative Reproductive Strategy In The Absence Of Helpers?, Allison E. Johnson, Stephen Pruett-Jones
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
Cooperative breeding, in which auxiliary group members help rear related, but nondescendent young, is often explained by kin selection. Reproductive monogamy is predicted in cooperatively breeding systems, as monogamy increases intragroup relatedness and maximizes auxiliary inclusive fitness. While monogamy is observed across many systems, including eusocial insects and cooperatively breeding mammals, some cooperatively breeding birds exhibit high rates of extrapair paternity. Here we quantify paternity and examine the role of auxiliaries on extrapair paternity in the highly cooperative variegated fairy-wren, Malurus lamberti, a species with both male and female auxiliaries. Extrapair paternity occurred in 55.4% of nests, and 39.8% …
Evolutionary Change In A Receiver Bias: A Comparison Of Female Preference Functions, Alexandra Basolo
Evolutionary Change In A Receiver Bias: A Comparison Of Female Preference Functions, Alexandra Basolo
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
Female poeciliid fishes of the sister genera Xiphophorus and Priapella share a preference for males with swords, despite phylogenetic information suggesting that swords arose in Xiphophorus after the divergence of the two genera. This study examines the strength of sword and body-size preferences in a representative of both genera. A comparison of the preference functions reveals that the strength of the preference favoring a sword in P. olmecae is significantly stronger than that in X. helleri. This result demonstrates that the pre-existing bias is not evolutionarily fixed, and that there has been change in the bias favoring the sword, …
The Phylogenetic Distribution Of A Female Preference, Alexandra Basolo
The Phylogenetic Distribution Of A Female Preference, Alexandra Basolo
School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications
Robust phylogenetic information can be instrumental to the study of the evolution of female mating preferences and preferred male traits. In this paper, the evolution of a preexisting female bias favoring a sword in male swordtail fish and the evolution of the sword, a complex character, are used to demonstrate how the evolution of mating preferences and preferred traits can be examined in a phylogenetic context. Phylogenetic information suggests that a preference for a sword arose prior to the evolution of the sword in the genus Xiphophorus and that the sword was adaptive at its origin. A phylogenetic approach to …