Factors Affecting Conditional Expression of Mate Preferences

动物行为计划非技术摘要提案编号：9816989 PI：Westneat，David标题：影响男性偏好条件表达的因素本研究项目的重点是了解女性对男性行为反应的灵活性。本研究将以家雀为研究对象，进行几项鸟舍和田间试验。鸟类实验将测试对雄性攻击倾向、社会熟悉度和地位以及形态和行为特征对雌性选择伴侣的影响的预测。 田间数据将揭示这些因素对社会地位，一般育种成功和父母行为的影响。一个交叉培养的研究将有助于建立水平的遗传影响的行为和形态特征参与男性和女性的互动。首先，这将有助于为育种偏好策略的进化提供更好的理论。其次，它将揭示女性灵活性对行为进化的一些影响。最后，本研究将探讨男女社会互动对女性行为发展的影响。对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的一般理解对于理解关于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.