Pick on someone your own size: ontogenetic shifts in mate choice by male garter snakes result in size-assortative mating

2001 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1133-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Shine ◽  
D. O'connor ◽  
M.P. Lemaster ◽  
R.T. Mason
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Garter Snakes ◽  
Ontogenetic Shifts

scholarly journals Familiarity with a female does not affect a male’s courtship intensity in garter snakes Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 805-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Shine ◽  
Jonathan K. Webb ◽  
Amanda Lane ◽  
Robert T. Mason
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Current Theory ◽  
Thamnophis Sirtalis ◽  
Garter Snakes ◽  
Lizard Species ◽  
Female Body Size ◽  
Courtship Intensity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Size Condition ◽  
Experimental Trials

Abstract In many animal species, males direct more intense courtship towards females they have not previously encountered, than towards females with which they have previously mated. To test the factors responsible for this “Coolidge Effect”, we need studies on a wide range of taxa – including those with mating systems in which we would not expect (based on current theory) that such an effect would be evident. The Coolidge Effect has been documented in several lizard species, but has not been looked for (and would not be expected) in snakes. We conducted experimental trials with red-sided garter snakes Thamnophis sirtalis pa-rietalis at a communal den in Manitoba, to see whether previous exposure to a female (either courting, or courting plus mating) modified male mate choice or courtship intensity. In keeping with prediction from theory (but contrary to an early anecdotal report), male garter snakes did not modify their courtship behaviour based upon their familiarity (or lack thereof) with a specific female. At least in large courting aggregations, male snakes may maximize their fitness by basing mate-choice upon immediate attributes of the female (body size, condition, mated status) and the intensity of competition (numbers and sizes of rival males) rather than information derived from previous sexual encounters.

scholarly journals Flexible mate choice may contribute to ecotype assortative mating in pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus)

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1810-1820 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. C. Jarvis ◽  
S. M. Comeau ◽  
S. F. Colborne ◽  
B. W. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Pumpkinseed Sunfish

HIGHER MALE EDUCATIONAL HYPERGAMY: EVIDENCE FROM PORTUGAL

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAMILTON R. CORREIA
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Representative Sample ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Traditional Society ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Educational Homogamy ◽  
Educational Assortative Mating ◽  
Large Representative

Studies of human mate choice have been based almost exclusively on stated preferences and personal advertisements, and the external validity of such studies has therefore been questioned. In the present study, reallife matings based on a large representative sample of newly wed couples in 1998 (n=66,598) were analysed according to educational assortative mating. The results demonstrate a strong educational homogamy in this national Portuguese sample. However, men tend to marry women who are slightly more educated than themselves. The results are compared with those of a modern society (US, 1940–87) and a traditional society (Kipsigis, 1952–91). Since educational attainment is strongly associated with social status and intelligence, these results are discussed in an evolutionary perspective.

scholarly journals Sexual selection on color and behavior within and between cichlid populations: Implications for speciation

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pauers ◽  
Jeffrey S. Mckinnon
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Separate Experiment ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
Male Behavior ◽  
Female Population ◽  
Different Color

Abstract Sexual selection is widely viewed as playing a central role in haplochromine cichlid speciation. Hypothetically, once divergent mate preferences evolve among populations of these fishes, reproductive isolation follows and the populations begin to behave as different species. Various studies have examined patterns of assortative mating among species and sometimes populations, but few have examined variation in directional preferences, especially among populations of the same species. We investigated mate choice behavior in two populations of Labeotropheus fuelleborni, a Lake Malawi endemic. We test whether mating preferences between populations are based on the same traits and in the same direction as preferences within populations. We examine the potential contributions of two classes of trait, color patterns and behaviors, to reproductive isolation. When females chose between either two males of their own population, or two from another, female preferences were generally similar (for the female population) across the two contexts. Mate choice patterns differed between (female) populations for a measure of color, but only modestly for male behavior. In a separate experiment we simultaneously offered females a male of their own population and a male from a different population. In these trials, females consistently preferred males from their own population, which were also the males that displayed more frequently than their opponents, but not necessarily those with color traits suggested to be most attractive in the previous experiment. Thus directional preferences for chroma and related aspects of color may be important when females are presented with males of otherwise similar phenotypes, but may play little role in mediating assortative mating among populations with substantially different color patterns. A preference for male behavior could play some role in speciation if males preferentially court same-population females, as we have observed for the populations studied herein.

Mating system, mate choice and parental care in a bark beetle

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Baruch ◽  
Z. Mendel ◽  
I. Scharf ◽  
A. R Harari
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Mating System ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Bark Beetle ◽  
Biparental Care ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Body Size

AbstractThe cypress bark beetle,Phloeosinus armatus, is a common element of the dying cypress tree system in East-Mediterranean countries. Adult beetles congregate for breeding on this ephemeral resource. We studied three traits that characterize this beetle's sexual behavior and linked them to its reproductive success: mating system, mate choice, and parental care. We found that the females are the ‘pioneering sex’, excavating the mating chamber. The average female is slightly larger than the male, and female and male body size is correlated, demonstrating size-assortative mating. The time it takes for a male to enter the mating chamber is positively correlated with female size and negatively correlated with its own size, which is perhaps responsible for this assortative mating. Males remain in the gallery during the period of oviposition, gradually leaving soon after the eggs hatch. The number of eggs laid and tunnel length are positively correlated with male body size. Finally, in the presence of both parents, more eggs are laid than when the female alone is present, demonstrating the important contribution of biparental care for reproductive success. We suggest that the interaction between a monogamous mating system, assortative mating, and biparental care contributes to reproductive success.

scholarly journals A multinomial network method for the analysis of mate choice and assortative mating in spatially structured populations

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1321-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo G. Muniz ◽  
Eduardo S. A. Santos ◽  
Paulo R. Guimarães ◽  
Shinichi Nakagawa ◽  
Glauco Machado
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Structured Populations ◽  
Spatially Structured Populations ◽  
Network Method

scholarly journals Mate choice enhances post-zygotic barriers to gene flow via ancestry bundling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavitra Muralidhar ◽  
Graham Coop ◽  
Carl Veller
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Hybrid Zones ◽  
Genetic Introgression ◽  
Genetic Isolation ◽  
Common Features ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Zygotic Selection

Hybridization and subsequent genetic introgression are now known to be common features of the histories of many species, including our own. Following hybridization, post-zygotic selection tends to purge introgressed DNA genome-wide. While mate choice can prevent hybridization in the first place, it is also known to play an important role in post-zygotic selection against hybrids, and thus the purging of introgressed DNA. However, this role is usually thought of as a direct one: a mating preference for conspecifics reduces the sexual fitness of hybrids, reducing the transmission of introgressed ancestry. Here, we explore a second, indirect role of mate choice as a barrier to gene flow. Under assortative mating, parents covary in their ancestry, causing ancestry to be "bundled" in their offspring and later generations. This bundling effect increases ancestry variance in the population, enhancing the efficiency with which post-zygotic selection purges introgressed DNA. Using whole-genome simulations, we show that the bundling effect can comprise a substantial portion of mate choice's overall effect as a postzygotic barrier to gene flow, and that it is driven by ancestry covariances both between and within maternally and paternally inherited genomes. Using estimates of the strength of assortative mating in avian hybrid zones, we calculate that the bundling effect of mate choice may increase the amount of purging of introgressed DNA by 40-80%, contributing substantially to the genetic isolation of species.

Size-assortative mating in explosive breeders: a case study of adaptive male mate choice in anurans

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Lindsey Swierk ◽  
Tracy Langkilde
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Rana Sylvatica ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Size Mismatch ◽  
Male Preference ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Mating Patterns ◽  
Male Mate

Abstract Exploration of size-assortative mating (SAM) in animals has led to a near consensus that it arises through constraints in choice, such as preference for large females combined with a large male advantage during intrasexual competition. Although such ‘apparent’ SAM is well explored, whether SAM arises because of specific preferences for size-matched mates has been less thoroughly considered. We tested for ‘preference-based’ SAM in an explosively breeding frog (Rana sylvatica), quantifying how male and female sizes affected fertilization and if males preferred size-matched females. We found that size mismatch severely reduced fertilization. Furthermore, males preferred size-matched, not larger, females in mate choice trials. Because males that mated with much larger females fertilized fewer eggs overall than they would have with size-matched females, male preference for size-matched females may be adaptive. Our results expand understanding of the mechanisms underlying SAM, suggesting that multiple mechanisms may simultaneously cause size-assortative mating patterns to emerge.

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