DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Understanding Variation in Motor Performance and Mate Choice in a Lekking Species with Complex, Acrobatic Displays

许多动物都有复杂的求偶展示，这些展示通常是繁殖所必需的。这个项目询问如何以及为什么个体在复杂显示的表现上存在差异，以及这种差异的后果。 研究的重点是一种小型热带鸟类，矛尾侏儒鸟的复杂杂技表演。研究人员将分析展示地点的连续录像，以确定雄性的求偶表现如何受到雌性偏好的影响。分析将量化复杂显示器的精细尺度变化，并确定求爱表现如何影响生殖成功。本科生指导是这项研究计划的一个重要方面，并将促进少数民族学生的机会。研究结果将通过非正式的报告向公众传播，发表在同行评议的期刊上，并在国际会议上提出。运动表现（执行可见的身体动作）是一个不可分割的组成部分，许多求爱显示，并有可能成为一个重要的信号，男性质量。整个生物体都用于执行这些运动，其中涉及呼吸，肌肉容量和当前能量储备等因素;因此，运动性能可能是比性选择研究中更常见的静态特征更有价值的信号。在lekking物种中，雌性的配偶选择预计取决于她观察到的雄性。因此，重要的是要量化每个女性选择的特定男性子集之间的表型变异。本研究将调查的原因，在复杂的，杂技表演的矛尾侏儒鸟的性能变化，以及这种变化的健身后果，特别是解决三个关键问题：1）什么因素影响显示性能的变化？2)男性的炫耀行为如何影响女性的选择？3）当有多个雌性同时出现时，雄性如何选择向哪一个雌性展示？这项研究利用先进的视频技术来量化复杂的求偶显示精细尺度的变化。研究人员将利用遗传技术来确定展示性能和女性访问模式如何与遗传的父系成功相关。了解是什么导致了运动表现的变化，是解开复杂的求偶表现以及这些表现如何影响健康的第一个重要步骤。与本研究相关的所有数据将在项目完成后在佛罗里达州立大学存档至少5年。

Many animals have complex courtship displays, and these displays are often essential for reproduction. This project asks how and why individuals differ in their performance of complex displays and the consequences of that variation. Research focuses on the complex, acrobatic displays of a small, tropical bird, the lance-tailed manakin. Researchers will analyze continuously recorded video of display sites to determine how the courtship performance of males is influenced by female preferences. Analyses will quantify fine-scale variation in complex displays and determine how courtship performance affects reproductive success. Undergraduate mentoring is an essential aspect of this research program, and will promote opportunities for minority students. Findings will be disseminated to the public through informal presentations, published in peer-reviewed journals, and presented at international conferences.Motor performance (the execution of visible body movements) is an integral component of many courtship displays and has the potential to be an important signal of male quality. The whole organism is used in the execution of such movements, which involve factors such as respiration, muscular capacity, and current energy reserves; therefore, motor performance may be an even more valuable signal than static traits more commonly investigated in sexual selection studies. In lekking species, mate choice by females is expected to depend on which males she observes. Therefore, it is important to quantify phenotypic variation among the particular subset of males among which each female is choosing. This research will investigate the causes of variation in the performance of complex, acrobatic displays in the lance-tailed manakin, and the fitness consequences of that variation, specifically addressing three key questions: 1) What factors influence variation in display performance? 2) How does male display performance influence female choice? and 3) How do males choose which female to direct their displays toward when multiple females are present? This research utilizes advances in video technology to quantify fine-scale variation in complex courtship displays. Researchers will employ genetic techniques to determine how display performance and female visitation patterns relate to genetic siring success. Understanding what causes variation in motor displays is the first essential step in disentangling complex courtship displays and how these displays may influence fitness. All data associated with this research will be archived at Florida State University for a minimum of 5 years following project completion.