Freeberg TM, Duncan SD, Kast TL, Enstrom DA
Department of Biology, Indiana University
Anim Behav. 1999 Feb;57(2):421-426. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1998.0988.
Previous studies of brown-headed cowbirds Molothrus ater, have shown that social learning and cultural transmission can influence courtship and mating patterns. These earlier studies did not test whether cultural background influenced mate choice in females and therefore whether culture could potentially play a role in sexual selection in this species, as has been suggested by recent theory. Here, we tested whether culture influences female mate choice in brown-headed cowbirds. Female cowbirds from a South Dakota population were housed with adult cowbirds from the same South Dakota population or with adult cowbirds from a behaviourally distinct population from Indiana. We tested the mating preferences of females of the South Dakota culture and females of the Indiana culture in sequential mate-choice trials with males, controlling for intrasexual interactions. The males were South Dakota cowbirds that had also been housed either in the South Dakota culture or in the Indiana culture. Females showed mating preferences for males from their own culture. These results suggest that mate choice in female cowbirds can be influenced by cultural background. We briefly discuss the effect that culture may have on sexual selection and on the evolution of female mating preferences. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
先前对褐头牛鹂的研究表明，社会学习和文化传播会影响求偶和交配模式。这些早期研究并未检验文化背景是否会影响雌性的配偶选择，因此也未检验文化是否可能在该物种的性选择中发挥作用，正如近期理论所暗示的那样。在此，我们检验了文化是否会影响褐头牛鹂雌性的配偶选择。来自南达科他州种群的雌性牛鹂与来自南达科他州同一种群的成年牛鹂或与来自行为特征不同的印第安纳州种群的成年牛鹂饲养在一起。我们在与雄性进行的连续配偶选择试验中，控制了同性间的相互作用，检验了南达科他州文化背景的雌性和印第安纳州文化背景的雌性的交配偏好。雄性是同样饲养在南达科他州文化环境或印第安纳州文化环境中的南达科他州牛鹂。雌性对来自自身文化背景的雄性表现出交配偏好。这些结果表明，雌性牛鹂的配偶选择可能会受到文化背景的影响。我们简要讨论了文化可能对性选择以及雌性交配偏好的进化产生的影响。版权所有1999动物行为研究协会。
