Title |
Male Red Ornamentation Is Associated with Female Red Sensitivity in Sticklebacks
|
---|---|
Published in |
PLOS ONE, September 2011
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0025554 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Ingolf P. Rick, Marion Mehlis, Theo C. M. Bakker |
Abstract |
Sexual selection theory proposes correlated evolutionary changes in mating preferences and secondary sexual characters based on a positive genetic correlation between preference and the preferred trait. Empirical work has provided support for a genetic covariation between female preference and male attractiveness in several taxa. Here, we study parent and offspring visual traits in threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus. While focusing on the proximate basis of mating preferences, we compare the red breeding coloration of males, which strongly contributes to female choice, with their daughters' red sensitivity measured by optomotor response thresholds. We show that the red color expression of fathers correlates well with their daughters' red sensitivity. Given that a within-population genetic correlation between signal and preference was experimentally confirmed for the red coloration in sticklebacks, our results indicate a proximate mechanism in terms of perceptual sensitivity being involved in the co-evolution of female preferences and male mating signals. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 1 | 50% |
Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 50% |
Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 5% |
Germany | 1 | 2% |
Romania | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 52 | 91% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 13 | 23% |
Researcher | 11 | 19% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 10 | 18% |
Other | 4 | 7% |
Student > Master | 4 | 7% |
Other | 8 | 14% |
Unknown | 7 | 12% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 37 | 65% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 7% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 3 | 5% |
Psychology | 2 | 4% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 2% |
Other | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 9 | 16% |