Female mate choice across spatial scales: influence of lek and male attributes on mating success of blue-crowned manakins

Lekking males compete for females within and among leks, yet female choice is expected to work differently at each of these spatial scales. We used paternity analyses to examine how lek versus male attributes influence mate choice in the blue-crowned manakin Lepidothrix coronata. We tested the hypot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2009-05, Vol.276 (1663), p.1875-1881
Main Authors: Durães, Renata, Loiselle, Bette A., Parker, Patricia G., Blake, John G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal vocalization
Animals
Behavioral genetics
Bird nesting
Display Rate
Evolution
Female
Female animals
Fisherian Sexual Selection
Genetic Benefits
Heterozygote
Lek Size
Lepidothrix coronata
Male
Male animals
Male Quality
Mating behavior
Passeriformes - anatomy & histology
Passeriformes - genetics
Passeriformes - physiology
Plumage
Population Density
Reproductive success
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Sexual selection
Vocalization, Animal
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Summary:Lekking males compete for females within and among leks, yet female choice is expected to work differently at each of these spatial scales. We used paternity analyses to examine how lek versus male attributes influence mate choice in the blue-crowned manakin Lepidothrix coronata. We tested the hypotheses that females prefer (i) to mate at larger leks where a larger number of potential mates can be assessed, (ii) to mate with unrelated or highly heterozygous males expected to produce high-quality offspring, (iii) to mate with males that display at higher rates, and that (iv) display honestly reflects male genetic quality. Our results show that (i) males at larger leks are not more likely to sire young, although females nesting close to small leks travel further to reach larger leks, (ii) siring males are not less related to females or more heterozygous than expected, (iii) within a lek, high-display males are more likely to sire young, and (iv) both male heterozygosity and display rate increased with lek size, and as a result display does not reliably reflect male genetic quality across leks. We suggest that female mate choice in this species is probably driven by a Fisherian process rather than adaptive genetic benefits.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2008.1752