Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1 - 7 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 233 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
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Both male and female identity influence variation in male signalling effort. / Lehtonen, Topi; Svensson, Per; Wong, Bob.
In: BMC Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 11, No. 233, 2011, p. 1 - 7.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Both male and female identity influence variation in male signalling effort
AU - Lehtonen, Topi
AU - Svensson, Per
AU - Wong, Bob
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Background: Male sexual displays play an important role in sexual selection by affecting reproductive success. However, for such displays to be useful for female mate choice, courtship should vary more among than within individual males. In this regard, a potentially important source of within male variation is adjustment of male courtship effort in response to female traits. Accordingly, we set out to dissect sources of variation in male courtship effort in a fish, the desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius). We did so by designing an experiment that allowed simultaneous estimation of within and between male variation in courtship, while also assessing the importance of the males and females as sources of courtship variation. Results: Although males adjusted their courtship depending on the identity of the female (a potentially important source of within-male variation), among-male differences were considerably greater. In addition, male courtship effort towards a pair of females was highly repeatable over a short time frame. Conclusion: Despite the plasticity in male courtship effort, courtship displays had the potential to reliably convey information about the male to mate-searching females. Our experiment therefore underscores the importance of addressing the different sources contributing to variation in the expression of sexually-selected traits.
AB - Background: Male sexual displays play an important role in sexual selection by affecting reproductive success. However, for such displays to be useful for female mate choice, courtship should vary more among than within individual males. In this regard, a potentially important source of within male variation is adjustment of male courtship effort in response to female traits. Accordingly, we set out to dissect sources of variation in male courtship effort in a fish, the desert goby (Chlamydogobius eremius). We did so by designing an experiment that allowed simultaneous estimation of within and between male variation in courtship, while also assessing the importance of the males and females as sources of courtship variation. Results: Although males adjusted their courtship depending on the identity of the female (a potentially important source of within-male variation), among-male differences were considerably greater. In addition, male courtship effort towards a pair of females was highly repeatable over a short time frame. Conclusion: Despite the plasticity in male courtship effort, courtship displays had the potential to reliably convey information about the male to mate-searching females. Our experiment therefore underscores the importance of addressing the different sources contributing to variation in the expression of sexually-selected traits.
UR - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2011.02605.x/pdf
U2 - 10.1186/1471-2148-11-233
DO - 10.1186/1471-2148-11-233
M3 - Article
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - BMC Evolutionary Biology
JF - BMC Evolutionary Biology
SN - 1471-2148
IS - 233
ER -