Hauser M D
Department of Biological Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
Proc Biol Sci. 1993 Nov 22;254(1340):93-6. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1993.0132.
In a wide variety of mating systems, female choice is based on the assessment of male signals, both morphological and behavioural, presumed to correlate with fitness. A crucial problem, therefore, is for females to determine whether the signal represents an 'honest' reflection of male fitness. A dominant theoretical perspective in evolutionary biology suggests that signals are honest if and only if they are costly to produce. At present, there are relatively few empirical studies of the costs and benefits of signalling in the mating context, and this is especially the case for Primates. In this paper, I examine the possibility that copulations calls--vocalizations that often elicit aggressive competition within the mating arena--are honest signals of male quality. Observations of rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) mating behaviour reveal that the proportion of copulating males who call decreases as competition for oestrous females increases. Males who call during copulation are more likely to be aggressively attacked than males who are silent during copulation. However, males who give copulation calls obtain more matings than males who do not, and this is true for high- and low-ranking males. Because of the cost-benefit tradeoffs, copulation calls are interpreted as honest indicators of quality that may serve an important function in female mate choice.
在各种各样的交配系统中，雌性的选择基于对雄性信号的评估，这些信号包括形态学和行为学方面的，被认为与适合度相关。因此，一个关键问题是雌性要确定该信号是否是雄性适合度的“诚实”反映。进化生物学中一个占主导地位的理论观点认为，信号只有在产生成本高昂时才是诚实的。目前，关于交配情境中信号传递的成本和收益的实证研究相对较少，灵长类动物尤其如此。在本文中，我探讨了交配叫声——在交配场所常常引发激烈竞争的发声——是雄性质量的诚实信号的可能性。对恒河猴（猕猴）交配行为的观察表明，随着对处于发情期雌性的竞争加剧，交配时发出叫声的雄性比例会下降。交配时发声的雄性比交配时保持沉默的雄性更容易受到攻击。然而，发出交配叫声的雄性比不发出叫声的雄性获得更多交配机会，无论地位高低都是如此。由于存在成本效益的权衡，交配叫声被解释为质量的诚实指标，可能在雌性配偶选择中发挥重要作用。
