The repeatability of behaviour: a meta-analysis.

The aim of this review is to consider variation in mating preferences among females. We define mating preferences as the sensory and behavioural properties that influence the propensity of individuals to mate with certain phenotypes. Two properties of mating preferences can be distinguished: (1) "preference functions'-the order with which an individual ranks prospective mates and (2) "choosiness'-the effort an individual is prepared to invest in mate assessment. Patterns of mate choices can be altered by changing the costs of choosiness without altering the preference function. We discuss why it is important to study variation in female mating behaviour and identify five main areas of interest: Variation in mating preferences and costs of choosiness could (1) influence the rate and direction of evolution by sexual selection, (2) provide information about the evolutionary history of female preferences, (3) help explain inter-specific differences in the evolution of secondary sexual characteristics, (4) provide information about the level of benefits gained from mate choice, (5) provide information about the underlying mechanisms of mate choice. Variation in mate choice could be due to variability in preference functions, degree of choosiness, or both, and may arise due to genetic differences, developmental trajectories or proximate environmental factors. We review the evidence for genetic variation from genetic studies of heritability and also from data on the repeatability of mate-choice decisions (which can provide information about the upper limits to heritability). There can be problems in interpreting patterns of mate choice in terms of variation in mating preferences and we illustrate two main points. First, some factors can lead to mate choice patterns that mimic heritable variation in preferences and secondly other factors may obscure heritable preferences. These factors are divided into three overlapping classes, environmental, social and the effect of the female phenotype. The environmental factors discussed include predation risk and the costs of sampling; the social factors discussed include the effect of male-male interactions as well as female competition. We review the literature which presents data on how females sample males and discuss the number of cues females use. We conclude that sexual-selection studies have paid far less attention to variation among females than to variation among males, and that there is still much to learn about how females choose males and why different females make different choices. We suggest a number of possible lines for future research.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/DB79D853FB764ADB3C114417B7012081/S0006323196005014a.pdf/div-class-title-variation-in-mate-choice-and-mating-preferences-a-review-of-causes-and-consequences-div.pdf

Variation in mate choice and mating preferences: a review of causes and consequences.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

A review of the literature reveals that, if females prefer traits that deviate from the population mean, they usually prefer traits of greater quantity. In cases in which the sensory bases of these preferences are identified, females prefer traits of greater quantity because these traits elicit greater sensory stimulation. However, two caveats apply. First, the studies surveyed might not represent an unbiased sample of mate choice, because researchers usually study systems characterized by exaggerated traits. Second, a preference for traits of greater quantity does not suggest that preference for average traits is unimportant; it might be more usual than preference for exaggerated traits. Phylogenetic comparisons sometimes allow one to distinguish among competing hypotheses for the evolution of female mating preferences. Two hypotheses, Fisher's theory of "runaway" sexual selection and the "good genes" hypothesis, predict that traits and preferences coevolve, whereas the "sensory exploitation" hypothesis ...

Directional patterns of female mate choice and the role of sensory biases

Female mate choice in treefrogs : static and dynamic acoustic criteria

We assessed the potential for several acoustic properties of the advertisement calls of male gray tree frogs to affect relative mating success by relating patterns of variation in these properties to minimum differences required to elicit female choice Dynamic properties (pulse number, PN; call rate, CR; and duty cycle, DC, the ratio of call duration to call period) varied much more within bouts of calling than a static property (dominant frequency, DF) but nevertheless exhibited significant between male variation in three of four breeding seasons Many multiply recorded males consistently produced calls with values substantially above or below mean values of males recorded on the same nights Nightly ranges of variation in PN and CR were often greater than the minimum differences required to elicit female preferences in the laboratory In most experiments, females chose high-PN or fast-CR calls over low-PN or slow-CR alternatives, respectively, even if the preferred stimuli were farther away or 6-10 dB lower in sound pressure level (SPL), provided that differences in PN or CR were 100% Consistent with these results, females did not always choose the closer of two calling males in the field Nightly ranges of variation in DF rarely equaled the minimum difference required to elicit SPL independent preferences Females preferred a stimulus of high-PN and slow-CR over an alternative of low-PN or fast-CR with the same acoustic on-time; in two experiments, females chose calls of high-PN over low-PN alternatives even though the playback of the high-PN call was interrupted and the low-PN call was broadcast continuously Thus, female preferences were not merely based on the total time of acoustic stimulation Responses of females tested twice in the same experiment suggest that phenotypic variation in preference was limited in our study populations

Dynamic properties of the advertisement calls of gray tree frogs: patterns of variability and female choice

Absolute thresholds and critical masking ratios were determined behaviorally for the European barn owl (Tyto alba guttata). It shows an excellent sensitivity throughout its hearing range with a minimum threshold of −14.2 dB sound pressure level at 6.3 kHz, which is similar to the sensitivity found in the American barn owl (Tyto alba pratincola) and some other owls. Both the European and the American barn owl have a high upper-frequency limit of hearing exceeding that in other bird species. Critical masking ratios, that can provide an estimate for the frequency selectivity in the barn owl's hearing system, were determined with a noise of about 0 dB spectrum level. They increased from 19.1 dB at 2 kHz to 29.2 dB at 8 kHz at a rate of 5.1 dB per octave. The corresponding critical ratio bandwidths were 81, 218, 562 and 831 Hz for test-tone frequencies of 2, 4, 6.3 and 8 kHz, respectively. These values indicate, contrary to expectations based on the spatial representation of frequencies on the basilar papilla, increasing bandwidths of auditory filters in the region of the barn owl's auditory fovea. This increase, however, correlates with the increase in the bandwidths of tuning curves in the barn owl's auditory fovea.

Absolute hearing thresholds and critical masking ratios in the European barn owl: a comparison with other owls

Two-choice phonotaxis in Hyperolius marmoratus (Anura: Hyperoliidae): the effect of temporal variation in presented stimuli

We studied the behavior and mating success of a natural population of painted reed frogs, Hyperolius marmoratus, over 28 consecutive nights at the height of the breeding season. The operational sex ratio (OSR) was strongly biased towards males on every night. Larger choruses
were characterized by a greater absolute number of females than small choruses. However, no relationship was found between chorus size and the OSR. Males showed a high degree of site fidelity both within and between nights. However, high male turnover between nights resulted in distributions that were largely independent from night to night. There was a strong positive relationship between the spatial location of males and females over the 28 nights so that most matings occurred
where male density was highest. Male body size did not influence mating success over the 28 nights, within nights, or within local groups of males (males within 3 m of a pair). The mating success of
males within nightly choruses was not influenced by nearest neighbor distance or the density of males in the immediate vicinity of amplexing pairs (local male density). Mating success of individual
males was best predicted by chorus attendance. Male size did not influence chorus attendance, site fidelity, or the number of consecutive nights that males were present at the breeding site. Males
that mated on one night had a significantly higher probability of mating the following night than males that did not mate the previous night. There was no evidence of positive assortative mating.

Miranda L. Dyson

Papers

Dynamic properties of the advertisement calls of gray tree frogs: patterns of variability and female choice

Absolute hearing thresholds and critical masking ratios in the European barn owl: a comparison with other owls

Two-choice phonotaxis in Hyperolius marmoratus (Anura: Hyperoliidae): the effect of temporal variation in presented stimuli

Male behaviour and correlates of mating success in a natural population of African Painted Reed frogs (Hyperolius marmoratus)

Reproductive stage and history affect the phonotactic preferences of female midwife toads, Alytes muletensis