Mate sampling influences the intensity of sexual selection and the evolution of costly sexual ornaments

Author(s)

Muniz, Danilo G. ^{[1, 2]} ; Machado, Glauco ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Ecol, LAGE, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Ecol, Programa Posgrad Ecol, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Theoretical Biology; v. 447, p. 74-83, JUN 14 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 3

Abstract

Mate choice includes three steps: (1) a choosing individual encounters potential mates, (2) assesses and processes information about them, and (3) makes a mate decision. During mate searching females can access only a sample of males in the mating pool and need to choose their mates based on limited information. Thus, mate sampling may influence sexual selection promoted by mate choice because it constrains female choice. Using individual-based simulations, we found that both female choosiness and mate sampling influenced the variance in mating success among males and thus the intensity of sexual selection. So that sexual selection is most intense when females are strongly choosy and can sample many males. Moreover, in evolutionary simulations, the rate of evolutionary change and the final size of male ornament increase with increasing mate sampling. However, under stronger natural selection, evolutionary change is slower and leads to smaller ornaments. Empirical data on the potential for sexual selection (I-s) for several animal species show a positive correlation between the intensity of sexual selection and an index of mate sampling based on behavioral and ecological traits. Based on the results of our simulations, we predict that males of highly mobile species with long-range sexual signal transmission, which allow females to assess many males, will show greater variance in mating success and will be more ornamented than their relatives not exhibiting these features. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/13632-5 - Using network analyses to explore the mechanisms underlying female choice of extra-pair mates
• Grantee: Danilo Germano Muniz da Silva
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 12/50229-1 - Macroecology of sexual selection: large-scale influence of climate on sexually selected traits
• Grantee: Glauco Machado
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 12/20468-4 - Neotropical dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata): a study system for the macro-ecology of sexual selection
• Grantee: Eduardo da Silva Alves dos Santos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral