Female Copying Increases the Variance in Male Mating Success

Theoretical models of sexual selection assume that females choose males independently of the actions and choice of other individual females. Variance in male mating success in promiscuous species is thus interpreted as a result of phenotypic differences among males which females perceive and to whic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1990-08, Vol.87 (15), p.5749-5753
Main Authors: Wade, Michael J., Pruett-Jones, Stephen G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Choice Behavior
Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids
Female
Female animals
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Group size
Male
Male animals
Mathematics
Mating behavior
Methods, theories and miscellaneous
Models, Biological
Population size
Probability
Random mating
Reproduction
Reproductive success
Selection, Genetic
Sex Factors
Sex ratio
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Sexual selection
Statistical variance
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Summary:Theoretical models of sexual selection assume that females choose males independently of the actions and choice of other individual females. Variance in male mating success in promiscuous species is thus interpreted as a result of phenotypic differences among males which females perceive and to which they respond. Here we show that, if some females copy the behavior of other females in choosing mates, the variance in male mating success and therefore the opportunity for sexual selection is greatly increased. Copying behavior is most likely in non-resource-based harem and lek mating systems but may occur in polygynous, territorial systems as well. It can be shown that copying behavior by females is an adaptive alternative to random choice whenever there is a cost to mate choice. We develop a statistical means of estimating the degree of female copying in natural populations where it occurs.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.87.15.5749