In many species, males signal quality with elaborate traits, but females often show inter-individual variation in pref ere nee for these traits. Choosi ng a mate requires multiple cog nitive steps;therefore, cog nitiv...In many species, males signal quality with elaborate traits, but females often show inter-individual variation in pref ere nee for these traits. Choosi ng a mate requires multiple cog nitive steps;therefore, cog nitive style (how an in dividual processes information) likely in fluences the perception of sexual signals and ability to choose a high-quality mate. An important component of cognitive style is flexibility;cognitively flexible individuals are more perceptive to shifts in cues. We hypothesized that cognitively flexible individuals would acquire more information about potential mates, better discern between two quality-signaling traits, and thus be more discriminatory. Here, we show that mate assessment is correlated to other cognitive traits. Although we did not detect an effect of cogn itive style on mate pref ere nee or discriminatio n, we found that female threespi ne sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus that spent more time assessing potential mates (more responsive) in a dichotomous mate choice task reached both the initial and reversal learning criterion in a spatial learning task with fewer errors. However, these highly responsive females made more consecutive mistakes immediately at the beginning of the reversal phase, suggest!ng that they did not quickly adapt to the en vironmental cha nge but in stead rapidly formed strict routi nes duri ng the learning task that were eventually reversible after repeated errors. Furthermore, we found evidenee for condition-dependent mate pref ere nee, with larger females preferring the high-quality male. These are among the first results that illustrate how cog nitive traits might in flue nee mate choice, which has implicati ons for the st re ngth and di recti on of sexual selection.展开更多
天下只有食肉动物,而无食肉植物。我的这个认识错了！本文让我开了眼界,天下竟有食肉植物(the carnivorous[食肉类的]plant)！这种植物的名称是:Nepenthes albomarginata。本文趣味洋溢,特别有一个作者自己“发明”的新词,引起了我的注...天下只有食肉动物,而无食肉植物。我的这个认识错了！本文让我开了眼界,天下竟有食肉植物(the carnivorous[食肉类的]plant)！这种植物的名称是:Nepenthes albomarginata。本文趣味洋溢,特别有一个作者自己“发明”的新词,引起了我的注意:…they turned back to the column and recruited their nestmates。 上句的最后一个单词nestmates,就显得新颖独特。它可分拆为:nest+mate。含义即明】展开更多
文摘In many species, males signal quality with elaborate traits, but females often show inter-individual variation in pref ere nee for these traits. Choosi ng a mate requires multiple cog nitive steps;therefore, cog nitive style (how an in dividual processes information) likely in fluences the perception of sexual signals and ability to choose a high-quality mate. An important component of cognitive style is flexibility;cognitively flexible individuals are more perceptive to shifts in cues. We hypothesized that cognitively flexible individuals would acquire more information about potential mates, better discern between two quality-signaling traits, and thus be more discriminatory. Here, we show that mate assessment is correlated to other cognitive traits. Although we did not detect an effect of cogn itive style on mate pref ere nee or discriminatio n, we found that female threespi ne sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus that spent more time assessing potential mates (more responsive) in a dichotomous mate choice task reached both the initial and reversal learning criterion in a spatial learning task with fewer errors. However, these highly responsive females made more consecutive mistakes immediately at the beginning of the reversal phase, suggest!ng that they did not quickly adapt to the en vironmental cha nge but in stead rapidly formed strict routi nes duri ng the learning task that were eventually reversible after repeated errors. Furthermore, we found evidenee for condition-dependent mate pref ere nee, with larger females preferring the high-quality male. These are among the first results that illustrate how cog nitive traits might in flue nee mate choice, which has implicati ons for the st re ngth and di recti on of sexual selection.
文摘天下只有食肉动物,而无食肉植物。我的这个认识错了！本文让我开了眼界,天下竟有食肉植物(the carnivorous[食肉类的]plant)！这种植物的名称是:Nepenthes albomarginata。本文趣味洋溢,特别有一个作者自己“发明”的新词,引起了我的注意:…they turned back to the column and recruited their nestmates。 上句的最后一个单词nestmates,就显得新颖独特。它可分拆为:nest+mate。含义即明】
