Harsh environmental conditions often impose strong selection on the phenotype of natural populations through impacts on their fitness.For overwintering birds,winter is an important period for survival because the weat...Harsh environmental conditions often impose strong selection on the phenotype of natural populations through impacts on their fitness.For overwintering birds,winter is an important period for survival because the weather conditions in winter is usually severer than in other seasons and birds often suffer more thermoregulation costs while food is in short supply.Thus,the selective effect of weather conditions on phenotype in winter is expected to be strong.In this study,we examined the relationship of overwinter survival of Silver-throated Tits(Aegithalos glaucogularis)with their morphological traits under different levels of winter conditions(winters with and without snowstorms)to explore the differential selective effect of winter weather on their morphology.We found that regardless of whether the winter experienced a snowstorm,the female Silver-throated Tits with a smaller bill surface area or smaller bill depth and a smaller surface area:volume ratio were more likely to survive during the winter,which supported the hypothesis of selection for heat retention.Furthermore,the females with a smaller body length survived better than the larger females,indicating that the lesser food requirements for smaller body sizes may confer advantages during the winter when food availability was reduced.In addition,in agreement with the finding in many short-lived birds that survival rate increases with the increase of age,older(≥2-year-old)female Silver-throated Tits had higher overwinter survival than 1-year-old females.However,we did not find any correlation of morphological traits and age with survival in male Silver-throated Tits.These results illustrate differential selective effects of winter weather on female and male Silver-throated Tits and contribute to the knowledge of sex-specific selection on the phenotype of natural populations.展开更多
High male mating effort and high variation in female quality select for male mate choice, which may be expressed as differential investment of reproductive effort based on female value. Male reproductive effort includ...High male mating effort and high variation in female quality select for male mate choice, which may be expressed as differential investment of reproductive effort based on female value. Male reproductive effort includes investment in direct contest competition with rival males for access to females, yet variation in male-male contest behavior is rarely examined in the context of male mate choice. We examine such male response to variation in female body size, reproductive state, and female-specific ornamentation in the striped plateau lizard, Sceloporus virgatus. We housed lizards in trios of 2 size-matched males and one female for 5 days, such that all 3 lizards were physi- cally isolated and the males could see the female but not each other. We then placed males simultaneously into the female＇s cage and scored the interaction. Male-male aggression was not significantly affected by female body size, reproductive state, nor ornament color, but was influenced by ornament size which reliably signals the phenotypic quality of the female and her off- spring. In the presence of larger-ornamented females, males engaged in more male-male aggressive display behavior more quickly, and performed fewer high-intensity contact behaviors but were equally likely to escalate to this riskier level of fighting. Our data suggest that males adjust their energetic investment during intrasexual competitive interactions in response to variation in the contested female which, assuming males gain direct or indirect benefits from their strategic allocation of reproductive effort, fits the modern understanding of male mate choice.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31970421,31472011,31101644)。
文摘Harsh environmental conditions often impose strong selection on the phenotype of natural populations through impacts on their fitness.For overwintering birds,winter is an important period for survival because the weather conditions in winter is usually severer than in other seasons and birds often suffer more thermoregulation costs while food is in short supply.Thus,the selective effect of weather conditions on phenotype in winter is expected to be strong.In this study,we examined the relationship of overwinter survival of Silver-throated Tits(Aegithalos glaucogularis)with their morphological traits under different levels of winter conditions(winters with and without snowstorms)to explore the differential selective effect of winter weather on their morphology.We found that regardless of whether the winter experienced a snowstorm,the female Silver-throated Tits with a smaller bill surface area or smaller bill depth and a smaller surface area:volume ratio were more likely to survive during the winter,which supported the hypothesis of selection for heat retention.Furthermore,the females with a smaller body length survived better than the larger females,indicating that the lesser food requirements for smaller body sizes may confer advantages during the winter when food availability was reduced.In addition,in agreement with the finding in many short-lived birds that survival rate increases with the increase of age,older(≥2-year-old)female Silver-throated Tits had higher overwinter survival than 1-year-old females.However,we did not find any correlation of morphological traits and age with survival in male Silver-throated Tits.These results illustrate differential selective effects of winter weather on female and male Silver-throated Tits and contribute to the knowledge of sex-specific selection on the phenotype of natural populations.
文摘High male mating effort and high variation in female quality select for male mate choice, which may be expressed as differential investment of reproductive effort based on female value. Male reproductive effort includes investment in direct contest competition with rival males for access to females, yet variation in male-male contest behavior is rarely examined in the context of male mate choice. We examine such male response to variation in female body size, reproductive state, and female-specific ornamentation in the striped plateau lizard, Sceloporus virgatus. We housed lizards in trios of 2 size-matched males and one female for 5 days, such that all 3 lizards were physi- cally isolated and the males could see the female but not each other. We then placed males simultaneously into the female＇s cage and scored the interaction. Male-male aggression was not significantly affected by female body size, reproductive state, nor ornament color, but was influenced by ornament size which reliably signals the phenotypic quality of the female and her off- spring. In the presence of larger-ornamented females, males engaged in more male-male aggressive display behavior more quickly, and performed fewer high-intensity contact behaviors but were equally likely to escalate to this riskier level of fighting. Our data suggest that males adjust their energetic investment during intrasexual competitive interactions in response to variation in the contested female which, assuming males gain direct or indirect benefits from their strategic allocation of reproductive effort, fits the modern understanding of male mate choice.
