10.5061/DRYAD.K0S6D62
Magris, Martina
University of Padua
Chimetto, Gianluca
University of Padua
Rizzi, Sofia
University of Padua
Pilastro, Andrea
University of Padua
Data from: Quick-change artists: male guppies pay no cost to repeatedly
adjust their sexual strategies
Dryad
dataset
2018
Poecilia reticulata
plasticity costs
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
no
2018-05-23T18:35:40Z
2018-05-23T18:35:40Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary087
38117 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Sexually selected traits involved in mate acquisition and fertilization
success are usually costly and males often plastically adjust their
reproductive investment in response to social conditions. Phenotypic
plasticity in male sexual traits is generally assumed to be adaptive, yet
its costs are rarely investigated. Male guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
adjust their ejaculate production and sexual behavior in response to
perceived mating opportunities. In natural populations mating
opportunities can fluctuate continuously, and the iterated activation of
plastic responses may impose a cost on males. To determine such costs, we
experimentally manipulated male social environment by exposing males
either to a constant number of females, or to weekly oscillations in
female number. We measured traits linked to condition and reproductive
success throughout male life. We found no significant difference in the
expression of these traits nor in male lifespan between the two groups.
Our results suggest that male guppies pay negligible costs for the
iterated activation of plastic responses, possibly as a consequence of
selection to minimize them.
Trait measuresThis dataframe contains the data of all traits measured in
replicate observations (Sheet 2) and at different time points during
treatment (Sheet 1).Magris _et_al._2018_plasticity_costs.xlsx