1
|
Yan JL, Rosenbaum JR, Esteves S, Dobbin ML, Dukas R. Sexual conflict and social networks in bed bugs: effects of social experience. Behav Ecol 2024; 35:arae030. [PMID: 38690087 PMCID: PMC11059254 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arae030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Living in groups can provide essential experience that improves sexual performance and reproductive success. While the effects of social experience have drawn considerable scientific interest, commonly used behavioral assays often do not capture the dynamic nature of interactions within a social group. Here, we conducted 3 experiments using a social network framework to test whether social experience during early adulthood improves the sexual competence of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) when placed in a complex and competitive group environment. In each experiment, we observed replicate groups of bed bugs comprising previously socialized and previously isolated individuals of the same sex, along with an equal number of standardized individuals of the opposite sex. Regardless of whether we controlled for their insemination history, previously isolated males mounted and inseminated females at significantly higher rates than previously socialized males. However, we found no evidence of social experience influencing our other measures of sexual competence: proportion of mounts directed at females, ability to overcome female resistance, and strength of opposite-sex social associations. We similarly did not detect effects of social experience on our female sexual competence metrics: propensity to avoid mounts, rate of successfully avoiding mounts, opposite-sex social association strength, and rate of receiving inseminations. Our findings indicate that early social experience does not improve sexual competence in male and female bed bugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Janice L Yan
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Jack R Rosenbaum
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Selena Esteves
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Maggie L Dobbin
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Reuven Dukas
- Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Carleial R, Pizzari T, Richardson DS, McDonald GC. Disentangling the causes of temporal variation in the opportunity for sexual selection. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1006. [PMID: 36813810 PMCID: PMC9947164 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36536-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In principle, temporal fluctuations in the potential for sexual selection can be estimated as changes in intrasexual variance in reproductive success (i.e. the opportunity for selection). However, we know little about how opportunity measures vary over time, and the extent to which such dynamics are affected by stochasticity. We use published mating data from multiple species to investigate temporal variation in the opportunity for sexual selection. First, we show that the opportunity for precopulatory sexual selection typically declines over successive days in both sexes and shorter sampling periods lead to substantial overestimates. Second, by utilising randomised null models, we also find that these dynamics are largely explained by an accumulation of random matings, but that intrasexual competition may slow temporal declines. Third, using data from a red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) population, we show that declines in precopulatory measures over a breeding period were mirrored by declines in the opportunity for both postcopulatory and total sexual selection. Collectively, we show that variance-based metrics of selection change rapidly, are highly sensitive to sampling durations, and likely lead to substantial misinterpretation if used as indicators of sexual selection. However, simulations can begin to disentangle stochastic variation from biological mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rômulo Carleial
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
- Science Directorate, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AE, UK.
| | - Tommaso Pizzari
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
| | | | - Grant C McDonald
- Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, 1077, Hungary.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Bordes CNM, Beukeboom R, Goll Y, Koren L, Ilany A. High-resolution tracking of hyrax social interactions highlights nighttime drivers of animal sociality. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1378. [PMID: 36522486 PMCID: PMC9755157 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04317-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Network structure is a key driver of animal fitness, pathogen transmission, information spread, and population demographics in the wild. Although a considerable body of research applied network analysis to animal societies, only little effort has been devoted to separate daytime and nighttime sociality and explicitly test working hypotheses on social structures emerging at night. Here, we investigated the nighttime sociality of a wild population of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) and its relation to daytime social structure. We recorded nearly 15,000 encounters over 27 consecutive days and nights using proximity loggers. Overall, we show that hyraxes are more selective of their social affiliates at night compared to daytime. We also show that hyraxes maintain their overall network topology while reallocating the weights of social relationships at the daily and monthly scales, which could help hyraxes maintain their social structure over long periods while adapting to local constraints and generate complex social dynamics. These results suggest that complex network dynamics can be a by-product of simple daily social tactics and do not require high cognitive abilities. Our work sheds light on the function of nighttime social interactions in diurnal social species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Camille N. M. Bordes
- grid.22098.310000 0004 1937 0503Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Rosanne Beukeboom
- grid.22098.310000 0004 1937 0503Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Yael Goll
- grid.12136.370000 0004 1937 0546School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Lee Koren
- grid.22098.310000 0004 1937 0503Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Amiyaal Ilany
- grid.22098.310000 0004 1937 0503Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
|
5
|
Roth AM, Dingemanse NJ, Nakagawa S, McDonald GC, Løvlie H, Robledo-Ruiz DA, Pizzari T. Sexual selection and personality: Individual and group-level effects on mating behaviour in red junglefowl. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:1288-1306. [PMID: 33630314 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Despite increasing evidence of the importance of repeatable among-individual differences in behaviour (animal personality) in ecology and evolution, little remains known about the role of animal personalities in sexual selection. Here, we present an investigation of the hypothesis that the personalities of individuals and their sexual partners play a role in different episodes of sexual selection, and the extent to which these effects are modulated by the social environment. We first examined how two repeatable behaviours-exploration and boldness-are associated with pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection in male red junglefowl Gallus gallus, using replicate groups across three experimental sex ratio treatments. We further explored how the social environment modulates relationships between male personality and mating performance, and whether mating is assortative or disassortative with respect to exploration or boldness. Finally, we examined behavioural mechanisms linking personality with mating performance. Across all sex ratios, the fastest and slowest exploring males courted females proportionally less, and faster exploring males associated with females more and received more sexual solicitations. In female-biased groups, the fastest and slowest exploring males experienced the highest mating success and lowest sperm competition intensity. Faster exploring males also obtained more mates in female-biased groups when their competitors were, on average, slower exploring, and the proportion of matings obtained by fast-exploring males decreased with the proportion of fast-exploring males in a group, consistent with negative frequency-dependent sexual selection. While boldness did not predict mating performance, there was a tendency for individuals to mate disassortatively with respect to boldness. Collectively, our results suggest that male exploration can play a role in sexual selection, and that sexual selection on personality is complex and contingent on the social environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Allison M Roth
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Grant C McDonald
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Hanne Løvlie
- Department of Physics Chemistry and Biology, IFM Biology, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| | | | - Tommaso Pizzari
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Carleial R, McDonald GC, Spurgin LG, Fairfield EA, Wang Y, Richardson DS, Pizzari T. Temporal dynamics of competitive fertilization in social groups of red junglefowl ( Gallus gallus) shed new light on avian sperm competition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20200081. [PMID: 33070718 PMCID: PMC7661449 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies of birds have made a fundamental contribution to elucidating sperm competition processes, experimentally demonstrating the role of individual mechanisms in competitive fertilization. However, the relative importance of these mechanisms and the way in which they interact under natural conditions remain largely unexplored. Here, we conduct a detailed behavioural study of freely mating replicate groups of red junglefowl, Gallus gallus, to predict the probability that competing males fertilize individual eggs over the course of 10-day trials. Remating frequently with a female and mating last increased a male's probability of fertilization, but only for eggs ovulated in the last days of a trial. Conversely, older males, and those mating with more polyandrous females, had consistently lower fertilization success. Similarly, resistance to a male's mating attempts, particularly by younger females, reduced fertilization probability. After considering these factors, male social status, partner relatedness and the estimated state of male extragonadal sperm reserves did not predict sperm competition outcomes. These results shed new light on sperm competition dynamics in taxa such as birds, with prolonged female sperm storage and staggered fertilizations. This article is part of the theme issue 'Fifty years of sperm competition'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rômulo Carleial
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - Grant C. McDonald
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
- Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest 1077, Hungary
| | - Lewis G. Spurgin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | | | - Yunke Wang
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - David S. Richardson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Tommaso Pizzari
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Cantor M, Maldonado‐Chaparro AA, Beck KB, Brandl HB, Carter GG, He P, Hillemann F, Klarevas‐Irby JA, Ogino M, Papageorgiou D, Prox L, Farine DR. The importance of individual‐to‐society feedbacks in animal ecology and evolution. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:27-44. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maurício Cantor
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis Brazil
- Centro de Estudos do Mar Universidade Federal do Paraná Pontal do Paraná Brazil
| | - Adriana A. Maldonado‐Chaparro
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| | - Kristina B. Beck
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Seewiesen Germany
| | - Hanja B. Brandl
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| | - Gerald G. Carter
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology The Ohio State University Columbus OH USA
| | - Peng He
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| | - Friederike Hillemann
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology Department of Zoology University of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - James A. Klarevas‐Irby
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Department of Migration Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Konstanz Germany
| | - Mina Ogino
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| | - Danai Papageorgiou
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| | - Lea Prox
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology Johann‐Friedrich‐Blumenbach Institute of Zoology & Anthropology University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany
- Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit German Primate Center Göttingen Germany
| | - Damien R. Farine
- Department of Collective Behaviour Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior Radolfzell Germany
- Department of Biology University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour University of Konstanz Konstanz Germany
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
McDonald GC, Engel N, Ratão SS, Székely T, Kosztolányi A. The impact of social structure on breeding strategies in an island bird. Sci Rep 2020; 10:13872. [PMID: 32807811 PMCID: PMC7431420 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70595-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The social environment is a key factor determining fitness by influencing multiple stages of reproduction, including pair formation, mating behavior and parenting. However, the influence of social structure across different aspects of breeding is rarely examined simultaneously in wild populations. We therefore lack a consolidation of the mechanisms by which sociality impacts reproduction. Here we investigate the implications of the social environment before and during breeding on multiple stages of reproduction in an island population of the ground nesting shorebird, the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus). We utilise information on mating decisions, nest locations and nesting success across multiple years in combination with social network analysis. Sociality before breeding was connected with patterns of pair formation. In addition, site fidelity and personal breeding experience was associated with the spatial organisation of breeding pairs. Our results provide evidence that, while differential social interactions at localised scales influence patterns of reproductive pairing, site fidelity and personal breeding experience influence the structure of populations at the landscape scale. Our results underline the tight link between the social structure of populations and patterns of mating, while revealing that the relative influence of sociality, breeding experience and local ecology are dynamic across different facets of reproduction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Grant C McDonald
- Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary.
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Noémie Engel
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, UK
| | - Sara S Ratão
- FMB, Fundação Maio Biodiversidade, Cidade do Porto Inglês, Maio, 6110, Cabo Verde
| | - Tamás Székely
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, UK
- FMB, Fundação Maio Biodiversidade, Cidade do Porto Inglês, Maio, 6110, Cabo Verde
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - András Kosztolányi
- Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
García-Roa R, Garcia-Gonzalez F, Noble DWA, Carazo P. Temperature as a modulator of sexual selection. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:1607-1629. [PMID: 32691483 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Revised: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
A central question in ecology and evolution is to understand why sexual selection varies so much in strength across taxa; it has long been known that ecological factors are crucial to this. Temperature is a particularly salient abiotic ecological factor that modulates a wide range of physiological, morphological and behavioural traits, impacting individuals and populations at a global taxonomic scale. Furthermore, temperature exhibits substantial temporal variation (e.g. daily, seasonally and inter-seasonally), and hence for most species in the wild sexual selection will regularly unfold in a dynamic thermal environment. Unfortunately, studies have so far almost completely neglected the role of temperature as a modulator of sexual selection. Here, we outline the main pathways through which temperature can affect the intensity and form (i.e. mechanisms) of sexual selection, via: (i) direct effects on secondary sexual traits and preferences (i.e. trait variance, opportunity for selection and trait-fitness covariance), and (ii) indirect effects on key mating parameters, sex-specific reproductive costs/benefits, trade-offs, demography and correlated abiotic factors. Building upon this framework, we show that, by focusing exclusively on the first-order effects that environmental temperature has on traits linked with individual fitness and population viability, current global warming studies may be ignoring eco-evolutionary feedbacks mediated by sexual selection. Finally, we tested the general prediction that temperature modulates sexual selection by conducting a meta-analysis of available studies experimentally manipulating temperature and reporting effects on the variance of male/female reproductive success and/or traits under sexual selection. Our results show a clear association between temperature and sexual selection measures in both sexes. In short, we suggest that studying the feedback between temperature and sexual selection processes may be vital to developing a better understanding of variation in the strength of sexual selection in nature, and its consequences for population viability in response to environmental change (e.g. global warming).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roberto García-Roa
- Behaviour and Evolution, Ethology Lab, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, C/Catedrático José Beltrán 2, Paterna, Valencia, 46980, Spain
| | - Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez
- Doñana Biological Station, Spanish Research Council CSIC, c/Americo Vespucio, 26, Isla de la Cartuja, Sevilla, 41092, Spain.,Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
| | - Daniel W A Noble
- Ecology and Evolution Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia.,Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, 2061, Australia
| | - Pau Carazo
- Behaviour and Evolution, Ethology Lab, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, C/Catedrático José Beltrán 2, Paterna, Valencia, 46980, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
McDonald GC, Spurgin LG, Fairfield EA, Richardson DS, Pizzari T. Differential female sociality is linked with the fine-scale structure of sexual interactions in replicate groups of red junglefowl, Gallus gallus. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20191734. [PMID: 31615354 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent work indicates that social structure has extensive implications for patterns of sexual selection and sexual conflict. However, little is known about the individual variation in social behaviours linking social structure to sexual interactions. Here, we use network analysis of replicate polygynandrous groups of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) to show that the association between social structure and sexual interactions is underpinned by differential female sociality. Sexual dynamics are largely explained by a core group of highly social, younger females, which are more fecund and more polyandrous, and thus associated with more intense postcopulatory competition for males. By contrast, less fecund females from older cohorts, which tend to be socially dominant, avoid male sexual attention by clustering together and perching on branches, and preferentially reproduce with dominant males by more exclusively associating and mating with them. Collectively, these results indicate that individual females occupy subtly different social niches and demonstrate that female sociality can be an important factor underpinning the landscape of intrasexual competition and the emergent structure of animal societies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Grant C McDonald
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest 1077, Hungary
| | - Lewis G Spurgin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | | | | | - Tommaso Pizzari
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Carleial R, McDonald GC, Pizzari T. Dynamic phenotypic correlates of social status and mating effort in male and female red junglefowl, Gallus gallus. J Evol Biol 2019; 33:22-40. [PMID: 31529557 PMCID: PMC6972591 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Despite widespread evidence that mating and intrasexual competition are costly, relatively little is known about how these costs dynamically change male and female phenotypes. Here, we test multiple hypotheses addressing this question in replicate flocks of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). First, we test the interrelationships between social status, comb size (a fleshy ornament) and body mass at the onset of a mating trial. While comb size covaried positively with body mass across individuals of both sexes, comb size was positively related to social status in females but not in males. Second, we test for changes within individuals in body mass and comb size throughout the mating trial. Both body mass and comb size declined at the end of a trial in both sexes, suggesting that mating effort and exposure to the opposite sex are generally costly. Males lost more body mass if they (a) were socially subordinate, (b) were chased by other males or (c) mated frequently, indicating that subordinate status and mating are independently costly. Conversely, females lost more body mass if they were exposed to a higher frequency of coerced matings, suggesting costs associated with male sexual harassment and female resistance, although costs of mating per se could not be completely ruled out. Neither competitive nor mating interactions predicted comb size change in either sex. Collectively, these results support the notion that sex‐specific costs associated with social status and mating effort result in differential, sex‐specific dynamics of phenotypic change.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rômulo Carleial
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Grant C McDonald
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tommaso Pizzari
- Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| |
Collapse
|