RT Journal Article
T1 An integrated approach to infer the mechanisms of mate choice for size
A1 Lau, Sarah L.Y.
A1 Williams, Gray A.
A1 Carvajal Rodríguez, Antonio
A1 Rolán Álvarez, Emilio
K1 2409.03 Genética de Poblaciones
K1 2401.08 Genética Animal
K1 2408 Etología
AB Size-assortative mating and sexual selection on size are common across species. Since both may be aresult of mate choice, mate choice based on size should also be a widespread process. This behaviour is,however, rarely studied directly and thus the biological causes that determine size-based mate choice arepoorly understood. To address this, we studied the size-based mate choice in an intertidal snail, Echinolittorinamalaccana, that has been used as a model to understand this process. Previous studies,assuming a quantitative Gaussian mating preference function, have inferred that mate choice in this snailis caused by a size similarity mechanism (males prefer to mate with females slightly larger thanthemselves). To further test and quantify this proposed mechanism, we conducted mate choice experimentswith alternative designs (single, male and multiple choice) in the laboratory and compared theresults to mate choice data observed in natural populations. This integrated approach allowed us toelucidate the mechanism of mate choice by evaluating alternative mating models that best fitted theobserved data of various designs. Results confirmed the similarity-based mechanism but showed deviationsat extreme size classes. The single choice design indicated that mate choice was exercised duringone-on-one maleefemale interactions, but the strength of mate choice increased with the presence ofadditional individuals (males in the male choice design, and both males and females in the multiplechoicedesign). Multiple-choice experiments are, therefore, the most valuable and useful design toinfer how males choose mates in the wild, as they best mimic the natural scenario and the results are themost similar to those observed in natural populations. To elucidate the mechanisms causing this malechoice for particular female sizes, the next steps are to identify the genetic basis as well as potentialphysiological benefits associated with choosing slightly larger females.
PB Animal Behaviour
SN 00033472
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/11093/2871
UL http://hdl.handle.net/11093/2871
LA eng
NO Animal Behaviour, 175, 33-43 (2021)
NO Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED431C 2020-05
DS Investigo
RD 18-sep-2024