Evidence of female preference for odor of distant over local males in a bat with female dispersal
Evidence of female preference for odor of distant over local males in a bat with female dispersal
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DOI：
10.1093/beheco/arab003
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发表时间：
2021-04-03
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Caspers，Barbara A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Schneeberger，Karin;Schulze，Michael;Caspers，Barbara A.
性选择雄性特征的地理变异在动物中很常见。女性的选择也因地理位置而异，一些研究发现女性对当地男性的偏好，这被认为会导致当地适应，从而提高健康水平。由于雌性是大多数哺乳动物类群中非分散的性别，因此对本地雄性的这种偏好可能是通过了解雄性特征来解释的。迄今为止，缺乏对雌性分散物种中雌性偏好的研究。为了弄清楚这些雌性是否也会对当地雄性表现出偏好，我们对更大的囊翅蝙蝠（Saccopteryx bilineata）进行了一项研究，这种蝙蝠的雌性会分散，雄性则留在其出生的群体中。雄性大囊翅蝙蝠有一个翼袋，里面充满了有气味的分泌物，在求爱时会向雌性扇动。通过化学分析和行为偏好测试的结合，我们分析了两个地理不同的种群（300公里）之间翼囊分泌物的成分是否存在差异，以及雌性是否表现出对本地或远处雄性气味的偏好。使用气相色谱法，我们发现两个地理不同的种群之间翼囊气味的成分存在显着差异。此外，行为偏好实验表明，两个种群的雌性比本地雄性更喜欢地理上遥远的雄性的气味。因此，翼囊气味可用于保证分散到新群体时的最佳近亲繁殖。据我们所知，这是第一个关于具有雌性偏向传播的物种的雌性气味偏好的研究。
Geographic variation of sexually selected male traits is common in animals. Female choice also varies geographically and several studies found female preference for local males, which is assumed to lead to local adaptation and, therefore, increases fitness. As females are the nondispersing sex in most mammalian taxa, this preference for local males might be explained by the learning of male characteristics. Studies on the preference of females in female-dispersing species are lacking so far. To find out whether such females would also show preferences for local males, we conducted a study on greater sac-winged bats (Saccopteryx bilineata), a species where females disperse and males stay in their natal colony. Male greater sac-winged bats possess a wing pouch that is filled with odoriferous secretion and fanned toward females during courtship display. In a combination of chemical analysis and behavioral preference tests, we analyzed whether the composition of wing sac secretion varies between two geographically distinct populations (300 km), and whether females show a preference for local or distant male scent. Using gas chromatography, we found significant differences in the composition of the wing sac odors between the two geographically distinct populations. In addition, the behavioral preference experiments revealed that females of both populations preferred the scent of geographically distant males over local males. The wing sac odor might thus be used to guarantee optimal outbreeding when dispersing to a new colony. This is—to our knowledge—the first study on odor preference of females of a species with female-biased dispersal.