Collaborative:Female Preference for Multiple Components of a Complex Secondary Sexual Trait in The Swordtails Xiphophorus Multilineatus and X. Cortezi

这项研究调查了女性是如何利用复杂的男性特征来选择配偶的。在剑尾鱼身上发现的一种色素图案，将考察雌性对竖条的动态(在一生中变化)和静态(在一生中不会变化)成分的偏好。一项新开发的视频技术将被用来确定棒子的成分(棒子数量、棒子强度)及其相互作用如何影响配偶选择。男性追求女性的录像带被一帧又一帧地处理，以改变酒吧的不同成分，同时保持男性的所有其他方面不变。女性对视频的反应将与自然中男性特征的变化以及该特征与男性状态之间的关系进行比较，以确定以下问题：1)女性的偏好是否导致了条形图的变化？2)女性更有可能更喜欢提供关于男性状态的静态信息的条形图的组成部分吗？女性的选择往往受到复杂的男性特征的影响，由多个组成部分组成，但人们对女性在这些情况下如何做出配偶选择知之甚少。与静态成分相比，动态成分有可能为雌性提供不同种类的信息，静态成分更有可能提供物种身份和遗传质量的信息。动态成分可能反映雄性的健康、身体状况、他最近的喂食史、最近的社会环境和他的性兴趣。识别静态和动态特征成分在配偶选择中的相对作用将有助于更清楚地理解为什么女性是挑剔的，以及她们更喜欢的男性特征是如何演变的

Morris9807925This study examines how females use complex male traits to make mate choices. Female preference for both dynamic (changing during a lifetime) and static (do not changing over a lifetime) components of the vertical bars, a pigment pattern found on swordtail fishes, will be examined. A newly developed video technique will be used to determine how components of the bars (bar number, bar intensity) and their interactions influence mate choice. Videotapes of males courting females are manipulated frame by frame to vary different components of the bars while holding all other aspects of a male constant. The responses of females to the videos will be compared to variation in the male trait in nature and relationship between the trait and male condition to determine the following:1 ) Does female preference responsible for variation in the bars? 2) Are females are more likely to prefer components of the bars that provide static over dynamic information about male condition?Female choice is often influenced by complex male traits, composed of multiple components, and yet little is known about how females make mate choices in these situations. Dynamic components, which may reflect a male's health, physical condition, his recent feeding history, immediate social circumstances, and his sexual interest, have the potential of providing females with different kinds of information as compared to static components which are more likely to provide information about species identity and genetic quality. Identifying the relative roles of static and dynamic trait components in mate choice will allow for a clearer understanding of why females are choosey and how the male traits they prefer evolve