Mate choice in the face of costly competition

Fawcett, Tim W.; Johnstone, Rufus A.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arg075

Cited by 144 publications

(144 citation statements)

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“…These results suggest that hormones affect the intercept, but probably not the slope of the UF. Plasticity in mating decisions has been found to be related not only to female reproductive stage, but also to female condition (Burley and Foster, 2006;Eraly et al, 2009;Fisher and Rosenthal, 2006;Fawcett and Johnstone, 2003a;Moskalik and Uetz, 2011;Poulin, 1994;Slagsvold et al, 1988), to age (Bateman et al, 2001;Kodric-Brown and Nicoletto, 2001;Moore and Moore, 2001), and to ecological (Booksmythe et al, 2008;Chaine and Lyon, 2008;Forsgren, 1992;Godin and Briggs, 1996;Gong and Gibson, 1996;Milner et al, 2010) and social conditions (Bailey andZuk, 2008, 2009;Collins, 1995;Hebets, 2003;Izzo and Gray, 2011;Lehmann, 2007;Rebar et al, 2011;Wagner et al, 2001). In particular, strong evidence for an effect of social experience on mating preferences has been provided by studies on the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus.…”

Section: The Perceived Utility Of Prospective Mates: U = P(a|h)/p(a|hmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the pioneering theoretical studies of Janetos (1980) and Parker (1978Parker ( , 1983, normative models of mate choice have been developed in an optimality rather than in a game theoretic framework, in that they assume there is a single choosy sex, whose behaviour does not affect the advertising strategy of the other sex (but see Fawcett and Johnstone, 2003a;Gualla et al, 2008;Johnstone, 1996). These models try to explain mating decision rules on the basis of how information is collected, that is, on the basis of how females sample prospective mates.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Castellano

Cadeddu

Cermelli

2012

Behavioural Processes

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a b s t r a c tThe present review is based on the thesis that mate choice results from information-processing mechanisms governed by computational rules and that, to understand how females choose their mates, we should identify which are the sources of information and how they are used to make decisions. We describe mate choice as a three-step computational process and for each step we present theories and review empirical evidence. The first step is a perceptual process. It describes the acquisition of evidence, that is, how females use multiple cues and signals to assign an attractiveness value to prospective mates (the preference function hypothesis). The second step is a decisional process. It describes the construction of the decision variable (DV), which integrates evidence (private information by direct assessment), priors (public information), and value (perceived utility) of prospective mates into a quantity that is used by a decision rule (DR) to produce a choice. We make the assumption that females are optimal Bayesian decision makers and we derive a formal model of DV that can explain the effects of preference functions, mate copying, social context, and females' state and condition on the patterns of mate choice. The third step of mating decision is a deliberative process that depends on the DRs. We identify two main categories of DRs (absolute and comparative rules), and review the normative models of mate sampling tactics associated to them. We highlight the limits of the normative approach and present a class of computational models (sequential-sampling models) that are based on the assumption that DVs accumulate noisy evidence over time until a decision threshold is reached. These models force us to rethink the dichotomy between comparative and absolute decision rules, between discrimination and recognition, and even between rational and irrational choice. Since they have a robust biological basis, we think they may represent a useful theoretical tool for behavioural ecologist interested in integrating proximate and ultimate causes of mate choice.

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Section: The Perceived Utility Of Prospective Mates: U = P(a|h)/p(a|hmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Castellano

Cadeddu

Cermelli

2012

Behavioural Processes

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“…The rather limited initial search for a partner and the increasingly relaxed criteria by which females accept social partners in these flycatchers represents a prudent adaptive decision by these individuals, which is predicted by theory. For many individuals, the costs of competing or delaying pairing in the hope of getting a better partner is likely to be far higher than simply taking what is currently on offer and making the best of that situation [33,34]. This theoretical framework also explains recent empirical demonstrations of the condition dependence of female choice [35,36], whereby poor-quality females will relax or modify their preference functions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Constrained mate choice in social monogamy and the stress of having an unattractive partner

2011

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In socially monogamous animals, mate choice is constrained by the availability of unpaired individuals in the local population. Here, we experimentally investigate the physiological stress endured by a female (the choosy sex) when pairing with a non-preferred social partner. In two experimental contexts, female Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) socially paired with poor-quality mates had levels of circulating corticosterone that were three to four times higher than those observed in females that were paired with preferred mates. The elevated level of this stress hormone in response to partner quality was observed within 12 h of the experimental introduction and maintained over a period of several weeks. Our findings demonstrate the extent of intra-individual conflict that occurs when individuals are forced to make mate-choice decisions that are not perfectly aligned with mate-choice preferences. The elevated level of corticosterone also suggests a mechanistic route through which females might adaptively manage their responses to intersexual conflict over reproductive investment.

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“…Finally, a female's own condition and quality are expected to influence her mating behaviour. In particular, lower-quality females are often assumed to be less choosy and to allocate less time to mate sampling [1,8,21,22], although the generality of this trend depends on the shape of the female preference function [15,23]. There has, however, been a general lack of empirical studies testing for more than one of these predictions at a time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mate sampling and choosiness in the sand goby

Lindström

Lehtonen

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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To date, mate choice studies have mostly focused on establishing which mates are chosen or how the choices are performed. Here, we combined these two approaches by empirically testing how latency to mate is affected by various search costs, variation in mate quality and female quality in the sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus). Our results show that females adjust their mating behaviour according to the costs and benefits of the choice situation. Specifically, they mated sooner when access to males was delayed and when the presence of other females presented a mate sampling cost. We also found a positive link between size variation among potential mating partners and spawning delay in some (but not all) experimental conditions. By contrast, we did not find the number of available males or the females' own body size ('quality') to affect mating latency. Finally, female mating behaviour varied significantly between years. These findings are notable for demonstrating that (i) mate sampling time is particularly sensitive to costs and, to a lesser degree, to variation among mate candidates, (ii) females' mating behaviour is sensitive to qualitative rather than to quantitative variation in their environment, and (iii) a snapshot view may describe mate sampling behaviour unreliably.

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Mate choice in the face of costly competition

Cited by 144 publications

References 38 publications

Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Constrained mate choice in social monogamy and the stress of having an unattractive partner

Mate sampling and choosiness in the sand goby

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