Does recent experience affect large male advantage in a sequentially-mating fish?

Behaviour ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Emily R. Allen ◽  
Laura K. Weir
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Recent Experience ◽  
Small Male ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Mating Experience ◽  
Male Advantage

Abstract In many mating systems, large male body size is associated with dominance in direct contests with rivals and females may exhibit preference for larger males. As such, body size is often positively associated with mating success. However, mating experience can influence the potential advantage of large body size through alterations in behaviour and depletion of sperm reserves. In Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), males mate with many females each day, and larger males mate more frequently than smaller males. In an observational experiment, we tested the following alternate predictions: (1) recent mating experience may enhance mating success through a carry-over effect of prior mating, whereby small experienced males gain an advantage over large inexperienced rivals in mating contests; or (2) recent mating experience decreases mating success through a reduction in fertilization due to sperm limitation, effectively dampening the large-male advantage against a small inexperienced rival. We examined the interactive effect of size and recent experience on mating behaviour and success. While mating contests were monopolized by large males, recent experience enhanced mating success, especially in small male winners. Experienced males courted more readily than those without recent experience, suggesting that recent prior mating enhances this behaviour. Furthermore, males who had copulated recently did not exhibit sperm depletion when in the presence of a competitor, nor did female behaviour indicate a preference for inexperienced males. This suggests that males can use sexual experience to increase their reproductive success in future mating situations, which may influence the action of sexual selection and alternative tactics in shaping mating systems.

Effects of body size and mass on running speed of male yellow-pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus)

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (9) ◽  
pp. 1584-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albrecht I Schulte-Hostedde ◽  
John S Millar
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Small Male ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Running Speed ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Male Body Size ◽  
Tamias Amoenus ◽  
Yellow Pine

Male-biased sexual size dimorphism in mammals is usually attributed to the success of large males in intrasexual combat for mates. However, mating success may be determined by contests that are not combative. In the mating chase of the yellow-pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus), a mammalian species with female-biased sexual size dimorphism, fast males may have an advantage in acquiring matings with estrous females. However, the effects of intraspecific variation in body size on running speed are not obvious; heavy individuals may run more slowly than light individuals because excess mass can be a hindrance to locomotion, but individuals that are structurally large may run faster than small individuals because of longer stride length. We examined the effects of both body mass and structural size on running speed in male yellow-pine chipmunks using manipulated runs in which male chipmunks were chased over a known distance. Structurally large male chipmunks had faster running speeds than small males, potentially giving large males an advantage when chasing estrous females. However, small male chipmunks are known to be aggressively dominant over large males. This leads to a potential trade-off in male body size between two behavioural components of mating success (running speed and dominance) that may constrain the evolution of male body size, ultimately leading to female-biased sexual size dimorphism.

Sexual size dimorphism in the American rubyspot: male body size predicts male competition and mating success

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 987-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Serrano-Meneses ◽  
A. Córdoba-Aguilar ◽  
V. Méndez ◽  
S.J. Layen ◽  
T. Székely
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Male Body Size

scholarly journals Sexual selection in cane toads Rhinella marina: A male’s body size affects his success and his tactics

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 747-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley Bowcock ◽  
Gregory P. Brown ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Size Discrimination ◽  
Physical Strength ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Body Sizes ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Size Preference

Abstract Male body size can play an important role in the mating systems of anuran amphibians. We conducted laboratory-based trials with cane toads Rhinella (Bufo) marina from an invasive population in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia, to clarify the effects of a male’s body size on his reproductive success and behavior (mate choice). Males were stimulated with a synthetic hormone to induce reproductive readiness. Larger body size enhanced a male toad’s ability to displace a smaller rival from amplexus, apparently because of physical strength: more force was required to dislodge a larger than a smaller amplectant male. A male’s body size also affected his mate-choice criteria. Males of all body sizes were as likely to attempt amplexus with another male as with a female of the same size, and preferred larger rather than smaller sexual targets. However, this size preference was stronger in larger males and hence, amplexus was size-assortative. This pattern broke down when males were given access to already-amplectant male-female pairs: males of all body sizes readily attempted amplexus with the pair, with no size discrimination. An amplectant pair provides a larger visual stimulus, and prolonged amplexus provides a strong cue for sex identification (one of the individuals involved is almost certainly a female). Thus, a male cane toad’s body size affects both his ability to defeat rivals in physical struggles over females, and the criteria he uses when selecting potential mates, but the impacts of that selectivity depend upon the context in which mating occurs.

scholarly journals Sexual selection on size and shape in Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica)

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1073-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clint D Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Insect Pest ◽  
Popillia Japonica ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Japanese Beetle ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Selection For

Abstract The mobility hypothesis argues that species in which males compete for mates in scrambles often exhibit female-biased size dimorphism because smaller male body size should increase male mobility and success in searching for mates. Sexual dimorphism can be further exaggerated if fecundity or sexual selection concurrently selects for larger female size. Scramble competition can select for trait characteristics that optimize locomotion; for example, long and slender wings should be favored if aerial speed is important to mating success. I tested these predictions in the scrambling Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), a female-biased size dimorphic insect pest that is invasive to North America. Multivariate selection analyses support the prediction that smaller body size and larger wings in males benefit their mating success. My analyses also revealed significant selection for larger wings in females but, contrary to prediction, direct sexual selection favors smaller body size in females. These results support the mobility hypothesis and partially explain the evolution of female-biased size dimorphism in this species. Sexual selection favored rounder bodies in females and more tapered bodies in males, whereas, in both sexes, the effect of wing shape appears less important to fitness than wing size.

Small male body size in garter snake depends on testes

1985 ◽  
Vol 249 (1) ◽  
pp. R62-R66 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Crews ◽  
M. A. Diamond ◽  
J. Whittier ◽  
R. Mason
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Garter Snake ◽  
Thamnophis Sirtalis ◽  
Sham Operation ◽  
Small Male ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Thamnophis Sirtalis Parietalis ◽  
Circulating Levels

In the red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) adult females are larger than adult males; this difference is apparent within 3 wk of birth, a time coinciding with high circulating levels of androgens. To study the ontogeny and regulation of this sexual dimorphism, male neonates were either castrated, castrated and given Silastic capsules containing testosterone or estradiol, or given a sham operation at 8, 9, or 10 wk of age. Female neonates were either given a Silastic capsule containing testosterone or dihydrotestosterone or given a sham operation at 8, 9, 10, or 14 wk of age. The sex difference in body size and growth rate in neonates was abolished by castration; the pattern of growth of castrated males was similar to sham-operated females. Androgens in the amounts administered failed to reverse the effects of castration, because castrated male and female neonates receiving exogenous androgens grew at the same rate as did sham-operated females. Males castrated as adults grow larger than adult males given a sham operation, indicating the inhibitory role of the testes on body size exists after sexual maturity. Treatment of adult males with testosterone, however, prevented the increase in body size after castration, suggesting that the mechanism regulating weight gain in the garter snake depends on gonadal androgen.

scholarly journals Disruptive sexual selection on male body size in the polyphenic black scavenger fly Sepsis thoracica

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 769-777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Pablo Busso ◽  
Wolf U Blanckenhorn
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Directional Selection ◽  
Disruptive Selection ◽  
Simultaneous Occurrence ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Body Size ◽  
Starting Point

Abstract Sexual selection has 2 main components, female preference and male–male competition, which can lead males to adopt alternative reproductive tactics to optimize their reproductive success. Two traits that significantly influence reproductive success are body size and coloration, as they can facilitate access to females through male contests or as female attractors. We investigated whether, and if so which mechanism of sexual selection contributes to the maintenance, and possibly even the establishment, of 2 almost discrete male morphs in the polyphenic black scavenger fly Sepsis thoracica (Diptera: Sepsidae): small and black, or large and amber. We performed 2 complementary laboratory experiments to evaluate the mating success of the different male morphs and the behaviors (of both males and females) presumably mediating their mating success. We found evidence for intraspecific disruptive sexual selection on male body size that is mediated by male–male interactions, and significant positive directional selection on body size that interacted with (directional) selection on coloration, likely contributing to the origin and/or maintenance of the threshold relationship between the 2 traits in this species. The simultaneous occurrence of disruptive selection and polyphenism in S. thoracica supports the role of sexual selection in the intraspecific diversification of coupled traits (here body size and coloration), which could be a speciation starting point.

scholarly journals Residual reproductive value and male mating success: older males do better

2008 ◽  
Vol 275 (1642) ◽  
pp. 1517-1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Fischer ◽  
Jana Perlick ◽  
Tobias Galetz
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Mating Success ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Mating Success ◽  
Residual Reproductive Value ◽  
Sexually Selected Traits ◽  
Older Males

Evolution via sexual selection has traditionally been viewed as isolated from life-history constraints. As additionally reproductive resource allocation in males is underexplored, it is rather unclear how life-history factors have shaped lifetime investment into male sexually selected traits. Against this background, we here investigate male butterfly mating success in relation to age, nutritional status, assay condition and wing damage. As predicted, based on a low residual reproductive value, older males had a considerably higher mating success than younger males. Comparisons between virgin and once-mated males suggest that this pattern is related to age per se rather than differential ratings of the resource receptive female. We found no evidence for male body size or condition being important, supporting the notion that in weaponless animals intrinsic motivation is more important for mating success than the differences in physical properties (such as body size or condition). Flight cage experiments suggest that such differences in motivation may be masked under more natural conditions, where flight performance, having a clear impact on mating success (as evidenced by wing manipulation experiments), is likely to be crucial. We conclude that the life-history perspective is a fruitful one for gaining a better understanding of the evolution of sexually selected characters and the predictions derived from contest theory do also apply to male mating success.

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