Invernizzi Edith, Gilman R Tucker
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, C.1249a Michael Smith Building, Dover Street, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Curr Zool. 2015 Dec;61(6):1043-1061. doi: 10.1093/czoolo/61.6.1043. Epub 2015 Dec 1.
Sexual imprinting is a common mechanism of mate preference learning. It is thought to influence how traits evolve and in some cases to promote speciation. Recently there has been increasing interest in how sexual imprinting itself evolves. Theoretical work on polygynous mating systems predicts that females will evolve paternal imprinting, which means they learn to prefer phenotypes expressed by their fathers. In nature however, females of some species learn to prefer phenotypes expressed by their mothers instead. We used a dynamical systems model and tools from adaptive dynamics to study how sexual imprinting evolves in species with socially monogamous mating systems. We considered cases in which the target trait for imprinting is under viability selection but is not a reliable signal of paternal investment. Thus, the target trait signals the genetic benefits rather than the parental care benefits of mate choice. When mating is socially monogamous and there is some extra-pair paternity, we show that maternal imprinting can be favored over paternal imprinting. Counterintuitively, females often become choosier when selecting social partners in systems where extra-pair mating is more frequent. That is, females may be more selective when choosing social partners that will sire a smaller percentage of their offspring. Our results offer new testable hypotheses, and advance our understanding of the mechanisms that drive the evolution of mate choice strategies in nature.
性印记是配偶偏好学习的一种常见机制。人们认为它会影响性状的进化方式，在某些情况下还会促进物种形成。最近，人们对性印记本身如何进化越来越感兴趣。关于一夫多妻制交配系统的理论研究预测，雌性会进化出父本印记，这意味着它们会学会偏好由父亲表现出的表型。然而在自然界中，某些物种的雌性却学会偏好由母亲表现出的表型。我们使用动态系统模型和适应性动力学工具，来研究性印记在实行社会一夫一妻制交配系统的物种中是如何进化的。我们考虑了印记的目标性状处于生存选择之下，但并非父本投资可靠信号的情况。因此，目标性状所传达的是配偶选择的遗传益处而非亲代抚育益处。当交配为社会一夫一妻制且存在一些婚外父权时，我们发现母本印记可能比父本印记更受青睐。与直觉相反的是，在婚外交配更为频繁的系统中，雌性在选择社会伴侣时往往会变得更加挑剔。也就是说，当选择那些使其后代中所占比例较小的社会伴侣时，雌性可能会更具选择性。我们的研究结果提出了新的可检验假设，并增进了我们对自然界中驱动配偶选择策略进化机制的理解。
