10.5061/DRYAD.6360S
Jordan, Lyndon Alexander
Brooks, Robert C
Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, University of NSW and School of
BEES, University of NSW, Australia
Data from: Recent social history alters male courtship preferences
Dryad
dataset
2011
Signaling/Courtship
Selection - Sexual
Poecilia reticulata
2011-07-20T15:48:06Z
2011-07-20T15:48:06Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01421.x
55296 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Phenotypically plastic mating behaviour may allow males to modify their
reproductive behaviour to suit the prevailing social conditions, but we do
not know if males only react to immediate social stimuli or change their
inherent mate preferences according to their social history. Here we
examine the effect of social experiences on the subsequent reproductive
behaviour of male guppies under standard conditions, allowing us to
distinguish the effect of past and immediate social conditions. Males
experienced experimental conditioning periods during which they interacted
with three females, either of variable size or of similar size. Females
arrived either simultaneously or consecutively. In subsequent standard
assays, only males that had experienced females of variable size
preferentially courted large females. Further, males exposed to sequential
female arrival courted subsequent females more vigorously than males that
had experienced simultaneous female arrival. In contrast, males did not
alter their coercive mating attempts in relation to their recent social
history. These results demonstrate that males use past experiences to
modify their subsequent reproductive behaviour rather than reacting only
to immediate stimuli, and reveal the sophisticated ways in which males
alter their reproductive tactics to suit the social environment and
maximise fitness across changing selective landscapes.
Dryad Evo 11-0373Excel spreadsheet of observational data imported from
JWatcher. Separate tabs for 'consensual' and
'coercive' mating attempts.