Factors Affecting Conditional Expression of Mate Preferences

项目编号：9816989PI: Westneat， david标题：影响雄性偏好条件表达的因素本研究项目侧重于理解雌性对雄性行为反应的灵活性。该研究将使用家雀（Passer domesticus）作为实验对象，进行几个鸟舍和野外实验。鸟舍实验将测试有关雄性攻击倾向、社会熟悉度和地位，以及形态和行为特征对雌性择偶影响的预测。野外数据将揭示这些因素对社会地位、一般繁殖成功率和亲代行为的影响。一项交叉培养研究将有助于确定基因对男女相互作用中涉及的行为和形态特征的影响程度。这个项目在几个层面上都很重要。首先，这将有助于为育种偏好策略的进化提供更好的理论依据。其次，它将揭示女性行为进化中灵活性的一些含义。最后，本项目将研究男性和女性之间的社会互动对女性行为发展的影响。了解性别特异性行为的发展以及男女之间的社会行为对发展的影响，对理解性别特异性进化过程的各种生物学问题具有重要意义。

Animal Behavior ProgramNontechnical AbstractProposal #: 9816989PI: Westneat, DavidTitle: Factors affecting conditional expression of male preferences This research project focuses on understanding flexibility in female behavioral responses to males. The study will use house sparrows, Passer domesticus, as the subjects in several aviary and field experiments. Aviary experiments will test predictions about the impact of male aggressive tendencies, social familiarity and status, as well as morphological and behavioral traits on a female's choice of a partner. Field data will uncover the impact of these factors on social status, general breeding success, and parental behavior. A cross-fostering study will help establish the level of genetic influence on behavioral and morphological traits involved in male-female interactions.This project is significant at several levels. First, it will help lead to better theory for the evolution of breeding preference strategies. Second, it will uncover some of the implications of flexibility in females for behavioral evolution. Finally, this project will investigate the influence of social interactions between males and females on the development of female behavior. A general understanding of the development of gender specific behavior and the effects of social behavior between males and females on development has important implications understanding a variety of biological questions about gender specific evolutionary processes.