A Preference for a Sexual Signal Keeps Females Safe
A Preference for a Sexual Signal Keeps Females Safe
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0000422
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发表时间：
2007-05-09
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Choe, Jae C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kim, Tae Won;Christy, John H.;Choe, Jae C.
一般认为，捕食限制了雌性的性选择，限制了明显性信号的进化。在捕食风险较高的情况下，雌性通常会变得不那么挑剔，因为它们通过减少寻找配偶的范围来减少暴露在捕食者面前的机会。然而，如果在高被捕食风险下，雌性表现出更强烈的偏好，雄性会使用明显的信号来帮助雌性避开捕食者，那么捕食不一定会削弱性选择。我们在招潮蟹（Uca terpsichores）身上测试了这一预测，方法是增加雌性对食蟹鸟捕食风险的感知，并测量雌性用来寻找配偶的求爱信号的吸引力。雄性在洞穴的开口处筑起一个拱形的沙堆，以此来吸引雌性交配，这是它们的性信号。我们发现，风险越大，具有这些结构的男性越有吸引力。配偶对性信号的偏好通常被认为与雄性对雌性或其后代的生殖贡献有关。我们的研究提供了第一个证据，证明雌性对性信号的偏好可以在寻找配偶时保证雌性的安全，从而产生直接的生存优势。
Predation is generally thought to constrain sexual selection by female choice and limit the evolution of conspicuous sexual signals. Under high predation risk, females usually become less choosy, because they reduce their exposure to their predators by reducing the extent of their mate searching. However, predation need not weaken sexual selection if, under high predation risk, females exhibit stronger preferences for males that use conspicuous signals that help females avoid their predators. We tested this prediction in the fiddler crab Uca terpsichores by increasing females' perceived predation risk from crab-eating birds and measuring the attractiveness of a courtship signal that females use to find mates. The sexual signal is an arching mound of sand that males build at the openings of their burrows to which they attract females for mating. We found that the greater the risk, the more attractive were males with those structures. The benefits of mate preferences for sexual signals are usually thought to be linked to males' reproductive contributions to females or their young. Our study provides the first evidence that a female preference for a sexual signal can yield direct survival benefits by keeping females safe as they search for mates.