Role Of Female Choice Research Articles

Evolution and "the sex problem": American narratives during the eclipse of Darwinism

A noteworthy investigation of Darwinian element in American fiction from realist through Freudian eras. In Evolution and the Sex Problem author Bert Bender argues that Darwin's theories of sexual selection and of emotions are essential elements in American fiction from late 1800s through 1950s, particularly during Freudian era and years surrounding Scopes trial. Bender contends that novelists with different social points of view explored the Sex Problem, and what resulted was a great diversity of American narratives aligned with either Darwinian or a number of anti-Darwinian theories of evolution. Included are intriguing discussions of works by Frank Norris, Jack London, Stephen Crane, Theodore Dreiser, Gertrude Stein, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, five writers of Harlem Renaissance, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway. Among ideas explored are Darwin's theory of common descent; question of man's place in nature; possibility of evolutionary progress; issues of heredity and eugenics; Darwinian basis of Freud's theory of sexual repression; quandary of male violence and role of female choice in sexual selection; power of and problems of racial and sexual selection; power of and problems of racial and sexual difference; and ecological problems that arose directly from Darwin's theory of evolution. This volume provides a valuable treatment of an underappreciated aspect of America's major narratives of human life and love and will be appreciated by literary scholars and readers interested in Darwinism and culture.

Mutations and Natural Genetic Variation in the Courtship Song of Drosophila

All Drosophila species have a courtship repertoire by which a male stimulates a female to mate with him. In many species, males vibrate their wings to produce courtship song, an element of courtship that plays an important role in female choice. Each species has a unique courtship song, with the major differences among species songs being in timing and/or structure. Analysis of genetic mutations has revealed 17 genes that affect courtship song in Drosophila melanogaster. Most of the genes were first identified as affecting another trait and were subsequently shown to affect song. Quantitative genetic studies have demonstrated a polygenetic additive genetic architecture for many song traits. Few candidate genes, identified through the classical genetic approach, coincide with the regions implicated as affecting natural variation. With many new tools in genetic analysis and the multiple Drosophila genome projects currently underway, the ability to relate mutational and quantitative analyses will improve.

Strong Reproductive Skew Among Males in the Multiply Mated Swordtail Xiphophorus multilineatus (Teleostei)

Male swordtails in the genus Xiphophorus display a conspicuous ventral elongation of the caudal fin, the sword, which arose through sexual selection due to female preference. Females mate regularly and are able to store sperm for at least 6 months. If multiple mating is frequent, this would raise the intriguing question about the role of female choice and male-male competition in shaping the mating system of these fishes. Size-dependent alternate mating strategies occur in Xiphophorus; one such strategy is courtship with a sigmoid display by large dominant males, while the other is gonopodial thrusting, in which small subordinate males sneak copulations. Using microsatellite markers, we observed a frequency of multiple paternity in wild-caught Xiphophorus multilineatus in 28% of families analyzed, but the actual frequency of multiple mating suggested by the correction factor PrDM was 33%. The number of fathers contributing genetically to the brood ranged from one to three. Compared to other species in the family Poeciliidae, both frequency and degree of multiple paternity were low. Paternity was found to be highly skewed, with one male on average contributing more than 70% to the offspring. Hence in this Xiphophorus mating system, typically one male dominates and sneaker males do not appear to be particularly effective. Postcopulatory mechanisms, however, such as sperm competition, are also indicated by our data, using sex-linked phenotypes among the offspring.

Monogamy: Mating Strategies and Partnerships in Birds, Humans and Other Mammals

U. H. Reichard, C. Boesch (eds.). 2003. Monogamy: Mating Strategies and Partnerships in Birds, Humans and Other Mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 267 pp. ISBN 0-521-52577-2, price (paper), $45.00. Understanding the evolution of monogamy in mammals has challenged behavioral ecologists for decades, because in most cases males are predicted to experience higher fitness through polygynous mating. In contrast to birds, gestation and lactation limit the potential fitness benefits of paternal care for all but a handful of species. Individuals that live in monogamous pairs but mate with extra-pair partners present an additional puzzle. Monogamy: Mating Strategies and Partnerships in Birds, Humans and Other Mammals brings together the most recent comparative analyses and long-term field studies that address the evolution of monogamy in mammals. A book-length review of this topic is very welcome. The conceptual framework for thinking about mating systems in mammals for nearly a decade and a half (Clutton-Brock 1989; Davies 1991) has been rooted in Kleiman's (1977) seminal review of monogamy and Emlen and Oring's (1977) ecological framework of mating system evolution. These reviews overemphasized the role of parental care, now believed to have evolved after the evolution of monogamy in most cases, and de-emphasized the role of female choice in favor of male control of female reproduction. The advent of molecular techniques for parentage assignment has ushered in a new understanding of the costs and benefits of monogamy for individuals that …

Female serin (Serinus serinus) responses to song do not favour the predominant song syntax

The predominant syntax of the serin song is sequential, whereby nonrepeated syllables follow a well-organised circular structure. This is an evolutionarily derived condition in serins, as most congener species use relatively more syllable repetitions. Repetition of syllables persists as a minor part of serin song, mostly at the beginning of songs. We investigated the possible existence of a female preference selecting for sequential syntax in the serin that could, explain its preponderance. Female preferences were assessed by analysis of their vocal responses and their operant eliciting of playbacks. Contrary to prediction, females tended to respond more to repetitive syntax, when choosing between the two natural serin syntaxes. This result could, however, be due to the syntactical and phonological similarities of the repetitive syntax and the species contact calls. When controlling for this possibility by giving the choice between repeated and sequential songs constructed from the same syllables in a second experiment, females expressed no preference. Taken together these experiments fail to link female preferences to the evolution of the serin sequential syntax. This result is discussed in the context of paucity of the evidence for a role of female choice in the evolution of song syntax in passerines.

Strophe Length in Spontaneous Songs Predicts Male Response to Playback in the Hoopoe Upupa epops

AbstractHoopoe (Upupa epops, Coraciformes) males produce a very simple song during the breeding season in order to attract females and repel intruders. Strophes vary in length (i.e. number of elements) both within and between males, and previous studies have shown that this song cue is positively correlated with male condition and breeding success. In the present study we tested whether strophe length of males influences male behaviour during intra‐sexual contests, in a colour‐ringed population in southeast Spain. Paired males were presented with a recorded song with long strophes during the pre‐laying period, while they were near their mates, in order to provoke male mate‐defence behaviour. Most males responded to the playback, but the strategy of defence adopted depended on their own strophe length in spontaneous songs recorded before the experiments. While singing responses were common to most of the males, only those using long strophes adopted the most risky strategy of approaching the loudspeaker. However, the males that approached produced abnormal songs during playback, that were shorter and with fewer strophes than those of males that did not approach, and used shorter strophes in comparison with spontaneous songs before the experiment. These differences in quality of the song produced in response to the playback suggest that long‐strophe males were basing their response mainly on attacking rather than singing, while short‐strophe males tried to resolve the contest at a distance by means of their song. These results show that strophe length reflects some component of the competitive ability of males (either physical strength or aggressiveness) in the hoopoe, which together with previous results regarding its role for female choice, show that it is a sexual signal with dual function.

The Role of Ultraviolet‐A Reflectance and Ultraviolet‐A‐Induced Fluorescence in Budgerigar Mate Choice

AbstractMany parrots have plumage that either reflects strongly in the ultraviolet‐A (UVA) waveband, between 315–400 nm, or exhibits UVA‐induced fluorescence. Previous experimental work on budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) suggests that UVA reflectance plays a role in mate choice, as in other diurnal birds, but evidence for fluorescent cues playing a role is unconvincing. Here we report two experiments on budgerigars, designed to determine whether fluorescent cues play a role in signalling when UVA reflectances are absent, an approach which separates removal of UVA reflectance from removal of fluorescence. First, we determined whether the choices of different females are correlated under these treatment conditions. Secondly, we investigated female preferences for fluorescing and non‐fluorescing males when UVA reflections are absent, to determine whether the yellow emissions of fluorescence are playing a role in mate choice. Results from experiment 1 do not suggest that females agree on which males are attractive when UVA reflectances are absent, with only half of the subjects choosing the same male. Neither did different females make the same choices in experiment 2. This lack of agreement provides further evidence that UVA reflectances from males play an important role in female choice in this species. Experiment 2 provides no evidence to suggest that UVA‐induced fluorescence plays a role in mate choice. Overall, our study supports previous findings showing that UVA reflectance plays a role in sexual signalling in this species, but provides no evidence to suggest the same for fluorescence when UVA reflectances are absent.

Small testes size despite high extra-pair paternity in the pair-living nocturnal primate Phaner furcifer

Sperm competition will be the inevitable consequence of polyandrous mating behavior if two or more males inseminate a single female. It has been demonstrated for a wide variety of animals that males adapt to this situation behaviorally, physiologically and morphologically, e.g. by evolving relatively large testes size to produce more sperm. All pair-living primates investigated so far were found to have relatively small testes, suggesting a monandrous mating system. We investigated the relationship between extra-pair paternity (EPP) rate as a measure of sperm competition intensity and relative testes size in a pair-living primate, the fork-marked lemur (Phaner furcifer). Paternity exclusion analyses for seven offspring using six polymorphic DNA-microsatellite markers suggested a high EPP rate. Female nocturnal travel distances were longer during the mating season, suggesting that females take an active role in achieving extra-pair copulations (EPCs). Surprisingly, fork-marked lemur testes size was relatively small compared to 23 other lemuroid primates, a result that is in contrast to predictions of sperm competition theory. Neither possible behavioral and morphological adaptations to an alternative paternity guard (i.e. mate guarding), nor sampling biases, phylogenetic constraints, and population density effects explain the absence of large testes in a species with high EPP, a phenomenon also known from birds with moderate to low EPP rates. We conclude that more data are needed on the frequency of EPCs, the timing of in-pair and extra-pair copulations, as well as the role of female choice, to explain why males of some species apparently do not adapt to sperm competition.

Females prefer males with larger first dorsal fins in the common freshwater goby

Males of the common freshwater goby Rhinogobius brunneus, which provide paternal care, have a first dorsal fin (FDF) that is markedly longer and more elaborate in colour and shape than that of females. Females showed a clear preference for males with longer FDFs, but mated randomly with respect to male body size (Ls) and nest size. They were individually consistent in their choice of mates, and the strength of preference increased with inter‐male differences in FDF length. During courtship, despite the unequivocal preference, females seem not to rely on FDF size in choosing a mate, but the leading display of males appears to play an important role in female choice. The results of this study suggest that intersexual selection probably contributes to the evolution of the elaborate FDF.

Females prefer males with larger first dorsal fins in the common freshwater goby

Males of the common freshwater goby Rhinogobius brunneus, which provide paternal care, have a first dorsal fin (FDF) that is markedly longer and more elaborate in colour and shape than that of females. Females showed a clear preference for males with longer FDFs, but mated randomly with respect to male body size (Ls) and nest size. They were individually consistent in their choice of mates, and the strength of preference increased with inter-male differences in FDF length. During courtship, despite the unequivocal preference, females seem not to rely on FDF size in choosing a mate, but the leading display of males appears to play an important role in female choice. The results of this study suggest that intersexual selection probably contributes to the evolution of the elaborate FDF.

Female eavesdropping on male song contests in songbirds.

Male song reflects the quality of the singer in many animals and plays a role in female choice of social and copulation partners. Eavesdropping on male-male vocal interactions is a means by which females can compare different males' singing behavior directly and make immediate comparisons between

Female Preference and the Maintenance of Male Fin Ornamentation in Three Egg-Mimic Darters (Pisces: Percidae)

ABSTRACT Egg-mimic, or lollypop darters comprise four species in which breeding males develop large knobs supported by attenuated rays above the second dorsal fin. These structures are presumably the product of sexual selection via female mate choice behavior. I investigated female preference for male fin knobs in three species of egg-mimic darters by experimentally removing fin ornamentation from one of a pair of males and allowing a female to choose between the experimental (non-knobbed) and control (knobbed) male. Females contributed their eggs to nests of control males in each of 33 replicate trials. The results of this study demonstrate a role for female choice in the maintenance of exaggerated male fin ornamentation in these species.

Female quail prefer testosterone-mediated traits, rather than the ornate plumage of males

The New World quail belong to the avian order Galliformes, in which plumage dichromatism is oestrogen based; oestrogen induces the expression of female-like plumage. We examined female mate choice in two congeneric species of New World quail, Gambel's quail, Callipepla gambelii, a highly ornate and dichromatic species, and scaled quail,C.squamata , a monochromatic species, to determine the kinds of male traits involved in female mate choice. In trials of unmanipulated males, as well as trials involving manipulations of single and multiple feather ornaments, female choice was not related to male plumage. Rather, in both species, females preferred high rates of male courtship. We predictably manipulated female mating decisions by presenting males that displayed at different rates. In scaled quail only, female choice also correlated with males of larger size. Consistent with studies of other galliform species, male plumage is not a primary means by which female quail make mating decisions. Instead, females appear to favour traits capable of signalling male condition, such as testosterone-mediated displays and body size. Numerous investigators have proposed that traits linked to testosterone honestly reflect male condition. We conclude that ornate plumage may not play a primary role in female choice, because it may not accurately indicate male quality.

The Role of Mate‐Choice Copying and Disruption Effects in Mate Preference Determination of Limia perugiae (Cyprinodontiformes, Poeciliidae)

AbstractRecent experimental and theoretical evidence suggests that social factors may play an important role in female choice and sexual selection. This is in contrast to the assumption made by most classical sexual selection models that female preferences are entirely determined by genetic factors. This study examined whether female preferences in the poeciliid fish Perugia's Limia (Limia perugiae) are reversible through (i) mate‐choice copying (imitative) behavior, or (ii) a disruption effect (reduced consistency of female preference in response to disruption). Females in binary choice trials were given a mate‐choice copying opportunity by exposing them to a second, model female displaying a preference for a male that was not initially preferred. Females were found to reverse their initial preference significantly more often when presented with an opportunity to observe the model female then in the absence of such an opportunity. In separate trials, females were presented with the opportunity to observe a model female displaying a preference for a male that was initially preferred. No significant difference was observed in the number of reversals between treatments in which females were presented with a copying opportunity that contradicted their initial preference and one that reinforced it. Our results suggest that mate‐choice copying does not contribute significantly to female preferences in L. perugiae and that disruption may reduce the ability of females to choose consistently.

Reproductive strategies of rhesus macaques

Reproductive strategies incorporate a multitude of mechanisms that have evolved to promote the reproductive success of individuals. Evolutionary perspectives tend to emphasize the advantages of male-male competition and female choice as mediators of differential reproduction. Male rhesus macaques have not been observed to fight for access to sexually receptive females, although they suffer more wounds during the mating season. An increased likelihood of attacks appears to coincide with male troop entry. Males who spend more time in consort and mate with more females tend to sire more offspring. Genetic analysis of paternity has pinpointed age and endurance rivalry, rather than agonistic competition, as key variables associated with variation in progeny production. Female rhesus macaques often copulate with multiple males during their ovulatory period, and tend to conceive on the first cycle of the mating season. Female reproductive success is more likely to be a function of offspring survivorship than the identity of particular male partners. The role of female choice as a direct mediator of male reproductive success is unresolved, but female mate selection seems to indirectly affect male reproductive success because female preference for mating with novel males seems to foster male dispersal. Evaluating whether mating preferences for particular male phenotypes affectsfemale reproductive success is a task for the future. A common denominator to the reproductive strategies of both female and male rhesus macaques is that feeding patterns affect body condition which influences reproductive output and regulates relative reproductive success.

The resident's dilemma: a female choice model for the evolution of alternative mating strategies in lekking male ruffs (Philomachus pugnax)

Previous models for the evolution of alternative male mating behavior have virtually ignored the role of female choice. We present a model in which female choice favors the evolution and maintenance of alternative mating strategies in male ruffs, Philomachuspugnax. Resident male ruffs establish and defend courts on against other residents, while non-territorial satellite males move between and among courts on a Residents appear to actively recruit satellites to their courts, even though satellites may mate with females once there. Resident behavior toward satellites and data on female behavior suggest that residents benefit from a satellite's presence due to some female preference for mating on co-occupied courts. However, if all residents accept satellites, none gains any relative advantage, yet all pay the costs of having satellites on their court. We present a game theoretical model that shows that the relative nature of female choice places residents in an evolutionary with respect to satellite acceptance. Although all residents would benefit if satellites could be cooperatively excluded from leks, the only evolutionarily stable strategy for individual residents is to defect and accept satellites. The model also demonstrates that this resident's dilemma likely exists only in a local sense, since the failure of residents to cooperatively exclude satellites from need not result in globally lower payoffs, due to frequency-dependent selection on the proportion of satellites in the population. Our analysis suggests that the resident-satellite relationship in ruffs, despite its obvious competitive elements, is fundamentally a cooperative association favored by female choice. Female choice has also been proposed as the primary mechanism selecting for male association to form in ruffs. In this context, resident-satellite associations may be thought of as transitory leks within a lek.

Manipulating a seemingly non-preferred male ornament reveals a role in female choice

Past studies of a feral South African population of guppies have shown that females use the area of orange coloration borne by males as a criterion for mate choice. However, males bear spots of other colours, the most noticeable of which is black. We investigate whether female preference can maintain the black spots of male guppies despite the apparent unimportance of black to female choice in correlative studies. When part of a male’s black pigmentation is removed, his ‘attractiveness’ to females decreases. This supports the hypothesis that in male animals with several ornaments, seemingly non-preferred ornaments can be maintained by female choice. These findings are discussed in the context of several models which account for the evolution of multiple male ornaments.

Female cooperation, consortship maintenance, and male mating success in savanna baboons

The role of female choice as a potential mechanism influencing male reproductive success in non-human primates is unclear. Few systematic studies have explicitly evaluated how female reproductive tactics modify male mating success. A 19-month field study of savanna baboons, Papio cynocephalus, was undertaken in Kenya in order to document patterns of mate choice and mate competition. Neither size dimorphism nor female competition hindered the expression of female choice. Female mating preferences affected the identity of mating partner and the probability of an escalated confrontation over access to a female. Reproductive tactics that diminished consortship duration included hiding from a male and approaching other males, whereas maintaining proximity to a male partner when he was aggressively challenged prolonged consortship duration. Non-cooperation in the form of mount rejection had no negative repercussions on male ejaculatory success and did not increase the chances of male abandonment. Male mating success depended more upon male than female reproductive tactics, and female tactics seemed to be based upon a propensity to mate with multiple males.

Female choice for morphological features of male ring-necked pheasants

To elucidate the role of female choice in the evolutionary maintenance of some morphological features of male ring-necked pheasants, Phasianus colchicus, a series of experiments were performed with captive animals. Mate-choice trials were made with both live males and stuffed models. Stimuli males were manipulated in the length of the tail, the size, colour and presence of black points in the wattle, the length of the ear tufts, and the general brightness of the plumage. Tail length, length of the ear tufts and the presence of black points in the wattle positively influenced the females' choice but neither wattle size or colour nor the brightness of the plumage did.

Genital mechanics and sexual selection in the spider Nesticus cellulanus (Araneae: Nesticidae)

The spider Nesticus cellulanus (Clerck, 1758) was investigated with respect to the functional morphology of its genital organs, using for the first time the method of freeze-fixation of the spiders in copula by liquid nitrogen and subsequent preparation of serial sections of the copulatory organs in functional contact. Use of this method provides new and detailed insights into the function of complex genitalia. Previous ideas, based on artificial expansion of the male copulatory bulbs and simulation experiments, must be rejected or doubted. The role of female choice as a universal cause of species specificity and complexity in genitalia, proposed by Eberhard, is discussed. The total absence of sensilla in the contact zones of the female copulatory organs indicates that the female is not stimulated by the copulatory organs of the male, nor can she evaluate their mechanical fit. "Female choice" can therefore act only indirectly, by influencing the number of offspring, which is assumed to be correlated with the fitting of the male genitalia, thus determining the number of sperm transferred. This postmating "choice" is absolutely independent of the female nervous system and is seen to be at least an important additional mechanism of sexual selection.