DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Modeling ornament-preference coevolution with individual-based simulations: An exploration of parameter space

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Some of the most spectacular traits in nature are ornaments used by members of one sex in competition for access to mates or fertilization opportunities. Of particular interest is the process by which mating preferences and sexually-selected ornaments evolve in tandem. There are many models describing the various conditions determining how these traits evolve together, but all of them rest on assumptions that have never been theoretically tested. The genes controlling the ornament and genes controlling the mating preference have always been assumed to be inherited in a manner that maintains a constant genetic architecture. The goal of this study is to explore the dynamics of ornament-preference joint evolution when the genetic architecture itself is allowed to evolve. Individual-based simulation models will be used to explore regions of parameter space that facilitate or hinder the rapid evolution of mating preferences and ornaments predicted by long-standing theory. The results of this project will provide a better understanding of the evolution of genetically correlated traits in general. Moreover, the simulation models will be useful for the demonstration of evolutionary processes to students and will help to communicate to the public how computer models can be used to dissect complex natural processes.