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ORIGIN AND MAINTENANCE OF A FEMALE MATING PREFERENCE
Catherine A Marler1, Michael J Ryan2
1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706.
Summary
Female fish preferences for large males persist even in asexual species. This suggests inherited traits, not direct benefits or sexual selection, maintain these preferences.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Animal Behavior
- Genetics
Background:
- Female mating preferences are crucial drivers of sexual selection.
- Understanding the maintenance and origin of these preferences is key to evolutionary studies.
- Asexual reproduction presents unique challenges for studying preference evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the maintenance and origin of female mating preferences in three fish species.
- To determine if sexual selection mechanisms explain preferences in asexual lineages.
- To explore alternative explanations for preference persistence in gynogenetic species.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of mating preferences across sexual and asexual fish species.
- Statistical comparison of preferences for male size.
- Evaluation of potential evolutionary mechanisms (good genes, runaway selection, direct selection).
Main Results:
- All three species, including the asexual P. formosa, showed indistinguishable preferences for large males.
- Good genes, runaway sexual selection, and direct selection benefits (fecundity increase) were unlikely to maintain preferences in the asexual species.
- The preference in P. formosa is likely inherited from parental species.
Conclusions:
- Female mating preferences can be maintained in asexual species through inheritance from sexual ancestors.
- Mechanisms like pleiotropy (e.g., sensory bias) or mate searching costs offer parsimonious explanations for preference maintenance.
- This challenges traditional views of sexual selection as the sole driver of persistent mating preferences.
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