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Mate‐choice copying: A fitness‐enhancing behavior that evolves by indirect selection
Author(s) -
Santos Mauro,
Sapage Manuel,
Matos Margarida,
Varela Susana A. M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/evo.13235
Subject(s) - biology , copying , trait , preference , mate choice , allele , selection (genetic algorithm) , population , evolutionary biology , natural selection , mating preferences , genetics , demography , statistics , artificial intelligence , computer science , gene , mathematics , mating , sociology , programming language
A spatially explicit, individual‐based simulation model is used to study the spread of an allele for mate‐choice copying (MCC) through horizontal cultural transmission when female innate preferences do or do not coevolve with a male viability‐increasing trait. Evolution of MCC is unlikely when innate female preferences coevolve with the trait, as copier females cannot express a higher preference than noncopier females for high‐fitness males. However, if a genetic polymorphism for innate preference persists in the population, MCC can evolve by indirect selection through hitchhiking: the copying allele hitchhikes on the male trait. MCC can be an adaptive behavior—that is, a behavior that increases a population's average fitness relative to populations without MCC—even though the copying allele itself may be neutral or mildly deleterious.