I have recently uploaded two preprints to BioRxiv, from my fellowship project using meta-analysis to quantify the extent of context- and state-dependent mating behaviour in animals.
In the first, I present data from three meta-analyses (incorporating effec sizes from 222 studies in total) looking at how the expression of sexual signalling behaviour, response to sexual signals, and the strength of mate choice varies in relation to the environmental context. I find that mate choice is stronger when the environmental conditions are ‘friendly’ (e.g. no predators, lots of mates), but sexual signalling behaviour or responsiveness aren't affected by environmental conditions. Overall, this suggests that the current evidence for context-dependent mating behaviour across animals is actually surprisingly weak, and there is A LOT of variation across species and studies that is mostly unexplained. More work is needed to figure what is causing this variation. In the second preprint, I look at how individual state influences the expression of just sexual signalling behaviour (the choosiness and responsiveness data will be in a forthcoming paper). I show that, across 147 animal species, males signal more when they are attractive and in good condition. Therefore, signalling effort appears to be ‘honest’, and reflects the resources available to males. This means females could potentially use male signalling effort as an indicator of male quality. There was little evidence for terminal investment in signalling behaviour, except when looking at old virgins, who signalled more compared to young virgins.
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February 2024
AuthorLiam Dougherty. Categories |