Mate assessment behavior is correlated to learning ability in female threespine sticklebacks  

作　　者：Taylor L.RYSTROM Theo C.M.BAKKER Ingolf P.RICK 

机构地区：[1]Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Munster, Badestrasse 13, Munster 48149, Germany [2]Institute for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Bonn, An der Immenburg 1,53121 Bonn, Germany

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2019年第3期295-304,共10页动物学报（英文版）

摘　　要：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.

关 键 词：COGNITION cognitive FLEXIBILITY choosiness computer ANIMATION MATE CHOICE sexual selection 

分 类 号：Q[生物学]