Female roles during postcopulatory sexual selection

该项目将评估孔雀鱼交配后性选择的重要性，孔雀鱼是一种多雄繁殖的鱼类。人工授精的使用，通过实验控制来自竞争雄性的精子的相对贡献（以及其他混淆效应），将有助于对进化生物学中最近的理论预测进行有力的测试。这个项目将使我能够区分雌性多次交配后的交配后父权偏见的竞争假设（精子竞争，隐性雌性选择，遗传兼容性），并为促进雌性滥交进化的选择力量提供额外的见解。

The project will evaluate the importance of postcopulatory sexual selection in the guppy, a polyandrous species of livebearing fish. The use of artificial insemination, which experimentally controls the relative contribution of sperm from competing males (as well as other confounding effects), will facilitate a powerful test of recent theoretical predictions in evolutionary biology. The project will enable me to distinguish between competing hypotheses for postcopulatory paternity bias following female multiple mating (sperm competition, cryptic female choice, genetic compatibility) and provide additional insights into the selective forces promoting the evolution of female promiscuity.