Open AccessMate choice decision rules: Trait synergisms and preference shifts
Author(s) -
Burley Nancy Tyler,
Hamedani Elnaz,
Symanski Cole
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.3831
Subject(s) - mate choice , trait , taeniopygia , beak , preference , biology , sexual selection , heritability , zebra finch , statistics , evolutionary biology , ecology , mathematics , neuroscience , mating , computer science , programming language
An important and understudied question in sexual selection is how females evaluate information from multiple secondary sexual traits ( SST s), particularly when expression of traits is phenotypically uncorrelated. We performed mate choice experiments on zebra finches ( Taeniopygia guttata castanotis Gould) to evaluate two hypotheses: preference shifts (obstacles to choice using one trait increase chooser reliance on others) and trait synergisms (choice based on the sum/product of two or more independently varying traits). The first experiment, which employed males raised on diets that impact SST expression, supported the trait synergism hypothesis: overall, male pairing success was best predicted by synergisms involving beak color and cheek patch size. Results did not support the preference shift hypothesis. Results of a follow‐up experiment that included males reared on a single diet, and in which male beak color and cheek patch size were manipulated, were also consistent with the trait synergism hypothesis. Results have implications for understanding the long‐term persistence of multiple SST s in populations and for the measurement of repeatability and heritability of mate preferences.