Álvarez-Quintero Náyade, Velando Alberto, Kim Sin-Yeon
Centro de Investigación Mariña, Universidade de Vigo, Grupo Ecoloxía Animal, Torre CACTI, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
Behav Ecol. 2021 Jun 22;32(5):803-813. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arab052. eCollection 2021 Sep-Oct.
Cognitive abilities may be crucial for individuals to respond appropriately to their social and natural environment, thereby increasing fitness. However, the role of cognitive traits in sexual selection has received relatively little attention. Here, we studied 1) whether male secondary sexual traits (colour, courtship, and nest) reflect their cognitive ability, 2) whether females choose mates based on males' and their own cognitive abilities, and 3) how the interplay between secondary sexual traits and cognitive ability determines male attractiveness in the three-spined stickleback (). For this, we first evaluated the cognitive ability of sexually mature males and females in a detour-reaching task. Then, female preference was repeatedly assessed in a dichotomous-choice test, where the female was exposed to two males with contrasting performances (relatively good and bad) in the detour-reaching task. Female preference for better performing males was affected by the female's own cognitive ability. Females with relatively medium-low cognitive ability preferred males with high ability, whereas females with high ability showed no preference. We also found that males with higher cognitive abilities built more elaborated nests, but showed weaker red nuptial colouration. To our knowledge, this is among the first results that illustrate how cognitive traits of both sexes influence female mate preference, which has implications for the strength and direction of sexual selection.
认知能力对于个体恰当地应对其社会和自然环境可能至关重要，从而提高适应性。然而，认知特征在性选择中的作用相对较少受到关注。在此，我们研究了：1）雄性第二性征（颜色、求偶行为和巢穴）是否反映其认知能力；2）雌性是否基于雄性和自身的认知能力选择配偶；3）第二性征与认知能力之间的相互作用如何决定三刺鱼雄性的吸引力。为此，我们首先在迂回取物任务中评估了性成熟雄性和雌性的认知能力。然后，在二分选择测试中反复评估雌性偏好，在该测试中，雌性会接触到在迂回取物任务中表现不同（相对较好和较差）的两只雄性。雌性对表现较好雄性的偏好受其自身认知能力的影响。认知能力相对中等偏低的雌性偏好能力高的雄性，而能力高的雌性则没有偏好。我们还发现，认知能力较高的雄性建造的巢穴更精致，但婚羽红色较淡。据我们所知，这是首批说明两性认知特征如何影响雌性配偶偏好的结果之一，这对性选择的强度和方向具有启示意义。
