Oh Kevin P, Badyaev Alexander V
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Aug 7;273(1596):1913-9. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2006.3528.
Choice of genetically unrelated mates is widely documented, yet it is not known how self-referential mate choice can co-occur with commonly observed directional selection on sexual displays. Across 10 breeding seasons in a wild bird population, we found strong fitness benefits of matings between genetically unrelated partners and show that self-referential choice of genetically unrelated mates alternates with sexual selection on elaborate plumage. Seasonal cycles of diminishing variation in ornamentation, caused by early pairing of the most elaborated males, and influx of increasingly genetically unrelated available mates caused by female-biased dispersal, lead to temporal fluctuations in the target of mate choice and enabled coexistence of directional selection for ornament elaboration with adaptive pairing of genetically unrelated partners.
选择基因不相关的配偶这一现象有大量记录，但尚不清楚自我参照式的配偶选择如何能与常见的对性展示的定向选择同时出现。在一个野生鸟类种群的10个繁殖季节里，我们发现基因不相关的配偶之间交配具有很强的适应性优势，并表明对基因不相关配偶的自我参照选择与对精致羽毛的性选择交替进行。最精致的雄性鸟类早早配对导致装饰变化的季节性循环减少，而雌性偏向扩散导致基因上越来越不相关的可获得配偶流入，这导致了配偶选择目标的时间波动，并使得对装饰精致度的定向选择与基因不相关配偶的适应性配对能够共存。
