首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
     


Female mate preference explains countergradient variation in the sexual coloration of guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
Authors:Deere Kerry A  Grether Gregory F  Sun Aida  Sinsheimer Janet S
Affiliation:Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. kdeere@ucla.edu
Abstract:
We tested the hypothesis that mate choice is responsible for countergradient variation in the sexual coloration of Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata). The nature of the countergradient pattern is that geographical variation in the carotenoid content of the orange spots of males is counterbalanced by genetic variation in drosopterin production, resulting in a relatively uniform pigment ratio. A female hue preference could produce this pattern, because hue is the axis of colour variation most directly affected by the pigment ratio. To test this hypothesis, we crossed two populations differing in drosopterin production and produced an F(2) generation with variable drosopterin levels. When the carotenoid content of the orange spots was held constant, female guppies preferred males with intermediate drosopterin levels. This shows that females do not simply prefer males with greater orange spot pigment content; instead, the ratio of the pigments also affects male attractiveness. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence for a hypothesized agent of countergradient sexual selection.
Keywords:mate choice   carotenoid   drosopterin   sexual selection   plasticity   genetic compensation
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录!
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号