QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Cultural transmission and the evolution of female mate choice: From guppies to yuppies.
Lee Dugatkin, Univ. of Louisville.

Q: How widely does this social transmission of information transfer to other taxa besides guppies? Do you know of any examples of similar work?

A: The extent of mate-copying is still difficult to determine, as only a handful of experiments have been done specifically examining this phenomenon. That said, female mate-choice copying has been shown in sage grouse (Centrocerus urophasianus), black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna), medaka (Oryzias latipes), peacock blennies (Salaria pavo) and quail (Coturnix japonica), but not in fallow deer (Dama dama) or pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca).The question of female mate-copying in sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) remains open to debate.

Q: Is the focal female younger than the model female?

A: In the experiments I described in my seminar, the observer and "model" female were approximately the same age. I have, however, run two experiments that look at the effect of age on mate copying. In one experiment, we found that younger females copy older females, but not vice-versa. In a second experiment, we found that when a younger model could observe BOTH a male being preferred by an older model and a different male being preferred by a younger model, she opted for the former.

Q: How can you be sure that the "copying" that occurs isn't actually selection or choice for the more fit individual?

A: I can't be sure of that. Indeed, choosing a more fit male (on average) may very well one of  the selective forces driving mate-copying.

Q:  In the second experiment*If female guppies know the second drab males are not the same as the males with the model, why would they choose these random drab males?

A: The hypothesis here is that observers generalize the preference they obtain from mate-copying, and hence in my experiment, prefer a second drab male.

Lee Dugatkin