Effect of Genetic and Environmental Variation on Diversification Due to Sexual Selection

我们感兴趣的是确定孔雀鱼雌性配偶选择变异的分子遗传学基础，这是研究性选择和自然选择的重要系统。Gupy雄性的颜色鲜艳，而雌性则不会变色，但确实会根据这些雄性的变色模式来展示配偶选择。孔雀系统的优势之一是，雌性在种群内和种群之间表现出不同的力量和配偶选择类型。例如，一些种群的雌性在选择配偶时比其他种群的雌性更容易被橙色吸引。雌性配偶选择的这种变异是孔雀鱼成为研究雌性配偶选择进化的重要系统的主要原因之一，因为除非该性状表现出变异，否则不可能研究该性状的进化。

We are interested in determining the molecular genetic basis for variation in female mate choice in guppies, an important system for studies of sexual and natural selection. Guppy males are brightly colored, while females do not exhibit coloration, but do exhibit mate choice based on these male coloration patterns. One of the strengths of the guppy system is that females exhibit variation within and between populations for the strength and type of mate choice. For example, females from some populations are much more attracted to orange coloration when choosing mates than are females from other populations. This variation in female mate choice is one of the main reasons why the guppy is such an important system for the study of the evolution of female mate choice, because it is not possible to study the evolution of a trait unless that trait shows variation.