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

这项研究探讨了女性如何利用复杂的男性特征来做出配偶选择。雌性对垂直条纹（剑尾鱼身上发现的一种色素模式）的动态（一生中变化）和静态（一生中不变化）成分的偏好将被检验。一项新开发的视频技术将用于确定棒子的组成部分（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一帧地处理，以改变酒吧的不同组成部分，同时保持男性的所有其他方面不变。将女性对视频的反应与男性特质的自然变化以及特质与男性状况的关系进行比较，以确定以下问题：1)女性偏好是否导致了条形图的变化？2)女性是否更喜欢提供男性状况静态信息而不是动态信息的成分？女性的选择通常受到男性复杂特征的影响，这些特征由多种因素组成，但人们对女性在这些情况下如何做出配偶选择知之甚少。动态成分可能反映雄性的健康状况、身体状况、最近的进食史、当前的社会环境和性兴趣，与静态成分相比，动态成分可能为雌性提供不同种类的信息，而静态成分更有可能提供有关物种身份和遗传质量的信息。确定静态和动态特征成分在配偶选择中的相对作用，将使我们更清楚地理解为什么女性会选择，以及她们喜欢的男性特征是如何进化的

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