Animal behavior is remarkably variable at all taxonomic levels. Over the last decades, research on animal behavior has focused on understanding ultimate processes. Yet, it has progressively become more evident that to...Animal behavior is remarkably variable at all taxonomic levels. Over the last decades, research on animal behavior has focused on understanding ultimate processes. Yet, it has progressively become more evident that to fully understand beha- vioral variation, ultimate explanations need to be complemented with proximate ones. In particular, the mechanisms generating variation in sexual behavior remain an open question. Variation in aspects of brain morphology has been suggested as a plausible mechanism underlying this variation. However, our knowledge of this potential association is based almost exclusively on com- parative analyses. Experimental studies are needed to establish causality and bridge the gap between micro- and macroevolutio- nary mechanisms concerning the link between brain and sexual behavior. We used male guppies that had been artificially selected for large or small relative brain size to study this association. We paired males with females and scored the full known set of male and female sexual behaviors described in guppies. We found several previously demonstrated associations between male traits, male behavior and female behavior. Females responded more strongly towards males that courted more and males with more orange coloration. Also, larger males and males with less conspicuous coloration attempted more coerced copulations. However, courting, frequency of coerced copulation attempts, total intensity of sexual behavior, and female response did not differ between large- and small-brained males. Our data suggest that relative brain size is an unlikely mechanism underlying variation in sexual behavior of the male guppy. We discuss these findings in the context of the conditions under which relative brain size might affect male sexual behavior .展开更多
The competition of waves has remained a hot topic in physics over the past few decades,especially the area of pattern control.Because of improved understanding of various dynamic behaviors,many practical applications ...The competition of waves has remained a hot topic in physics over the past few decades,especially the area of pattern control.Because of improved understanding of various dynamic behaviors,many practical applications have sprung up recently.The prediction of wave competitions is also very important and quite useful in these fields.This paper considers the behaviors of wave competitions in simple,inhomogeneous media which is modeled by Brusselator equations.We present a simple rule to judge the results of wave competitions utilizing the dispersion relation curves and the waves coming from different wave sources.Moreover,this rule can also be used to predict the results of wave propagation.It provides methods of obtaining the desired waves with given frequencies in inhomogeneous media.All our results are concluded and verified by computer simulations.展开更多
文摘Animal behavior is remarkably variable at all taxonomic levels. Over the last decades, research on animal behavior has focused on understanding ultimate processes. Yet, it has progressively become more evident that to fully understand beha- vioral variation, ultimate explanations need to be complemented with proximate ones. In particular, the mechanisms generating variation in sexual behavior remain an open question. Variation in aspects of brain morphology has been suggested as a plausible mechanism underlying this variation. However, our knowledge of this potential association is based almost exclusively on com- parative analyses. Experimental studies are needed to establish causality and bridge the gap between micro- and macroevolutio- nary mechanisms concerning the link between brain and sexual behavior. We used male guppies that had been artificially selected for large or small relative brain size to study this association. We paired males with females and scored the full known set of male and female sexual behaviors described in guppies. We found several previously demonstrated associations between male traits, male behavior and female behavior. Females responded more strongly towards males that courted more and males with more orange coloration. Also, larger males and males with less conspicuous coloration attempted more coerced copulations. However, courting, frequency of coerced copulation attempts, total intensity of sexual behavior, and female response did not differ between large- and small-brained males. Our data suggest that relative brain size is an unlikely mechanism underlying variation in sexual behavior of the male guppy. We discuss these findings in the context of the conditions under which relative brain size might affect male sexual behavior .
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.11105051,11104071,11247272Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities,Beijing Higher Education Elite Young Teacher ProjectYouth Scholars Program of Beijing Normal University
文摘The competition of waves has remained a hot topic in physics over the past few decades,especially the area of pattern control.Because of improved understanding of various dynamic behaviors,many practical applications have sprung up recently.The prediction of wave competitions is also very important and quite useful in these fields.This paper considers the behaviors of wave competitions in simple,inhomogeneous media which is modeled by Brusselator equations.We present a simple rule to judge the results of wave competitions utilizing the dispersion relation curves and the waves coming from different wave sources.Moreover,this rule can also be used to predict the results of wave propagation.It provides methods of obtaining the desired waves with given frequencies in inhomogeneous media.All our results are concluded and verified by computer simulations.
