bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Resources, Attractiveness, Family Commitment; Reproductive Decisions in Human Mate Choice
Authors: Bereczkei Tamas , Voros Silvia , Gal Agnes , Bernath Laszlo 
Published: May 2010

AbstractAccording to recent evolutionary theory, males and females have been selected for different kinds of mate preferences as behavioral adaptations in our ancestral past. These psychological algorithms, however, are open to ecological/cultural changes in the contemporary societies and, as a consequence, there are permanent tradeoffs between the possible behavioral outputs in mate choice. Using 1000 lonely heart advertisements, we made an attempt to provide a detailed analysis of traits males and females offer and demand in the ‘bargaining’ of reproductive values. Striking differences between the sexes have been found in many of the 42 measured traits associated with physical attractiveness, financial condition, occupational status, domestic virtues, length of relationship, and marital status. We have revealed not only that females were more likely than males to prefer resources in mates, and that females offering cues of physical attractiveness made higher demands than those who did not, but the better physical conditions the females offered, the greater the financial and occupational status they required in potential mates. Similarly, males increased their reproductive success through choosing females of greatest reproductive value: the more resources they had, the greater the demands they made about the potential partner's physical attractiveness. Surprisingly, women valued traits associated with family commitment of potential partners more than cues of resources, which is regarded as an adaptive answer to a particular cultural condition. A remarkable trade‐off in males between direct and indirect methods of paternal investment has been found; the fewer resources they had, the more traits indicating domestic virtue they offered. Contrary to cultural powerless hypothesis, women with higher status valued resources in mates even more than lower‐ranked women. Males seeking short‐term mates demanded physical attractiveness more, and female seeking short‐term mates prefered mates with many resources, compared with those pursuing long‐term mating. In the context of long‐term mating, both sexes placed a greater emphasis on cues of family commitment rather than on those of resources and physical condition. Finally, it was found that as both males and, surprisingly, females age, they prefer relatively younger mates than themselves.
The Effect of Variation in Male Sexually Dimorphic Traits on Female Behaviour in Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)
Authors: Min Sherwick E. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractSeveral sexually dimorphic morphological, behavioural, and territory characteristics of male pronghorn, Antilocapra americana, are highly variable. To test the hypothesis that females respond to variation among males for mate choice, I examined the relationship between these male characteristics and female congregation size and variability. Increased movement up to and during rut and differential female congregation on the territories of males with favoured characteristics were detected as predicted. Individual females increased their home ranges nearly fourfold from summer to rut and visited 88% of the territories in the study area. Female congregation size was related to male phenotype but not to territory characteristics. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that not only were several male traits simultaneously related to female congregation size and variability, but the importance of these traits varied across years. However, male courtship, cheek‐patch size, and scent marking behaviours were consistently correlated to female congregation patterns across years. Female congregation was significantly related to male courtship, but there was no correlation between former territory owner's and newcomer's attraction of females. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that females were primarily assessing males instead of territories.
Ecological Differences in Social Learning between Adjacent, Mixing, Populations of Zenaida Doves
Authors: Carlier Pascal , Lefebvre Louis 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn Zenaida doves, Zenaida aurita, of Barbados, previous work has shown that social learning is associated with foraging ecology in the field: in captive experiments, group‐foraging birds learn more readily from a conspecific tutor, while territorial birds learn from the heterospecific they most often feed with in mixed‐species aggregations, the Carib grackle, Quiscalus lugubris. This study examines foraging ecology and social learning in a dove population that experiences both territorial defence and occasional group feeding, Brandon's Beach. In part I, we document the dual foraging pattern seen in this population, which lives only a few hundred metres from the group‐foraging harbour population studied in previous work. In part II, we show that doves from Brandon's Beach, consistent with their dual foraging experience, learn as readily from a conspecific as they do from a heterospecific tutor; control doves from the adjacent harbour site learn primarily from a conspecific tutor. Field sightings of banded individuals caught at the harbour and Brandon's show strong site fidelity, but sufficient movement between areas (4%) to make reproductive divergence between the two neighbouring populations highly unlikely, suggesting that social learning differences between them are non‐genetic.
Partitioning the Components of Sexual Selection: Attractiveness and Agonistic Behaviour in Male Wax Moths, Achroia grisella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
Authors: Cremer Sylvia , Greenfield Michael D. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractTwo components of sexual selection in the lesser wax moth, Achroia grisella, are clearly defined: females choose males based on characters of their ultrasonic advertisement signals, and males display agonistic behaviour patterns in contests over signalling stations. We conducted a series of laboratory trials to determine whether successes in these two sexual selection arenas were related. Our trials showed that winners in contests over signalling stations were characterized by earlier initiation of both signalling and aggression. These characteristics may indicate higher levels of ‘motivation,’ but it is unclear whether this level is a fixed trait. There was no relationship, however, between any measure of a male's attractiveness to females and his success in winning competition trials. Thus, inter‐ and intra‐sexual selection may be acting on different, uncorrelated traits in A. grisella.
Division of Labour among Workers in the Termite, Reticulitermes fukienensis (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae)
Authors: Crosland M. W. J. , Ren S. X. , Traniello J. F. A. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractTo investigate division of labour in Reticulitermes fukienensis, worker and larval subgroups were established in laboratory cultures and task performance patterns of different‐sized workers and larvae were recorded. Five categories of subgroups were established based on head width differences: small larvae (SL); large larvae (LL); small workers (SW); medium workers (MW); and large workers (LW). Subgroups were compared for their ability to carry out the following tasks: tunnel construction; covered gallery construction; gallery repair; and feeding. Larval subgroups were found to carry out none of the tasks investigated. They did not feed or build covered galleries or underground tunnels. Temporal polyethism occurred among workers of different size groups. Covered foraging galleries were exclusively built and tunnels were predominantly built by older workers (i.e. MW and especially LW). Remarkably, most SW were apparently unable to burrow into the soil, something that all LW did within 3 d and 95% of MW did within 5 d. Surprisingly, LW ate 8.5 and 65.5 times as much food (i.e. filter paper) as MW and SW, respectively, although their average body weights were, respectively, only approximately two and four times that of MW and SW. MW carried out all four tasks that LW performed, although MW were typically less efficient. This contrasts with the hypothesis that different instars of termites should carry out different non‐overlapping tasks.Large workers carried out most of all tasks compared with other worker sizes. The only exception was for gallery repair where repair rate by LW did not differ significantly from MW. The predominance of tasks carried out by larger (i.e. older) workers indicates a possible new pattern for division of labour in these lower termites. This contrasts with the pattern of organization of division of labour in the social Hymenoptera.
Group Choice as a Function of Group Size Differences and Assessment Time in Fish: The Influence of Species Vulnerability to Predation
Authors: Krause Jens , Godin Jean‐Guy J. , Rubenstein Dan 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe shoal‐choice behaviour of two species of fish that differ in their vulnerability to predation was compared. Individuals of threespine stickleback,Gasterosteus aculeatus, and creek chub,Semotilus atromaculatus, were presented with a simultaneous choice of two equidistant stimulus shoals of conspecifics that differed in membership size (5 vs. 6 fish, 5 vs. 7, 5 vs. 8, 5 vs. 9 and 5 vs. 10). Test fish were allowed to view the stimulus shoals from a standard distance for either 10–20 or 120–150s before being frightened with a stimulus from an overhead light and released to join either shoal. We observed which shoal (the smaller or the larger one) the test fish approached. Preference for the larger stimulus shoal generally increased with increasing shoal size difference and with the duration of the assessment period, and was more pronounced in chub (the more vulnerable of the two species). For the short assessment period, chub showed a significantly stronger preference for the larger stimulus shoal than sticklebacks, whereas there was no significant difference between species for the long assessment period. Furthermore, chub responded more readily to small differences in shoal size (of 1–3 fish) than sticklebacks, for both short and long assessment periods. The above results are consistent with the hypothesis that chub, as the more vulnerable of the two species (in terms of predation), should be able to identify the larger of two shoals more quickly and should be more sensitive to small differences in shoal size than sticklebacks.
Iberian Rock Lizards (Lacerta monticola cyreni) Assess Conspecific Information Using Composite Signals from Faecal Pellets
Authors: López Pilar , Aragón Pedro , Martin José 
Published: May 2010

AbstractA field and laboratory study was performed to analyse the role of excrement deposited on the substrate in intraspecific communication of the Iberian rock‐lizard (Lacerta monticola cyreni). In the field, lizards selected specific sites on rocks to deposit faecal pellets, probably in order to facilitate visual location of pellets by conspecifics. Differential tongue flick rates to chemicals presented on cotton swabs demonstrated that male lizards can detect and discriminate between self‐produced scents from faecal pellets and those of other conspecific males. In a subsequent experiment, male lizards were tested in a chamber with two platforms containing a faecal pellet of other male on one side and a control artificial pellet on the opposite side. Males spent significantly less time on the side containing the faecal pellet, suggesting that the decision of where to stay may depend on the presence of faecal pellets. Smaller males moved less than larger males on the experimental side whereas on the control side body size did not influence the proportion of time moving. The ability to discriminate chemicals from faeces, and the effects of faecal pellets on lizard behaviour, suggests that faeces might act as composite signals (visual and chemical) in the intraspecific communication of this lizard.
Androgenization of Dominant Males in a Cichlid Fish: Androgens Mediate the Social Modulation of Sexually Dimorphic Traits
Authors: Oliveira Rui F. , Almada Vitor C. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractWe present data on the relationship between social status and male secondary sex traits, both morphological and ethological, in Oreochromis mossambicus at the onset of sexual maturation. There is a differential expression of morphological (dorsal fin height, anal fin height, mandible width and premaxilla length) and behavioural (nuptial coloration, per cent time defending a territory, spawning pit volume, pit hovering and courtship rate) traits according to social status, with dominants presenting the highest expression of these dimorphic traits. Social status also affects the development of the genital papillae, which is considered to be a good predictor of androgen levels in cichlid fishes. The results support a causal model in which social status modulate androgen levels that in turn modulate the expression of behavioural and morphological male traits.
Male Mating Success in the Presence of a Conspecific Opponent in a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, Gromphadorhina portentosa (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae)
Authors: Clark Deborah Campero 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThe influence of a conspecific competitor on male mating behavior was examined in a Madagascar hissing cockroach, Gromphadorhina portentosa. Previous studies have suggested that both male‐male competition and female discrimination during courtship interactions may influence male mating success. Familiar pairs of males with a known social association were placed in an arena with a single virgin female and observed. As expected, subordinate males mated significantly less often than their dominant opponents. In pairs in which one male mated, dominant individuals limited the access of subordinates to females. Dominant males displayed an increased frequency and duration of interaction with the female. However, in pairs where both males remained unmated, the mating behavior of dominant and subordinate males did not differ significantly. As interactions progressed, as in the case of males that remained unmated, subordinate males gained increased access to the female. Mated males tended to be larger than their opponent although within a rank, males that mated were no larger than those that remained unmated. These results are discussed in light of the possible roles of male‐male competition and female discrimination during courtship interactions.
Juvenile Richardson's Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii) Manifest Both Littermate and Neighbour/Stranger Discrimination
Authors: Hare James F. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractNewborn ground squirrels (Spermophilus spp.) are reared in isolation of individuals belonging to other litters. At or near weaning, they broaden their social interactions to encompass conspecifics other than littermates. In laboratory studies, juvenile ground squirrels commonly discriminate littermates from non‐littermates, but few studies have examined whether behavioural discrimination at that level persists under natural circumstances. Previous studies have also all but ignored the possibility of alternative levels of social discrimination augmenting or replacing the discrimination of littermates from non‐littermates. To examine those possibilities, I staged interactions in a neutral arena between littermate, neighbour and non‐neighbour (stranger) pairs of otherwise free‐living juvenile Richardson's ground squirrels (Spermophilus richardsonii).Littermates interacted more frequently than other pair types and showed the highest proportion of cohesive behaviour and the least agonism. Strangers interacted less frequently than all other pair types, showed the fewest recognitive contacts, and were the least cohesive and most agonistic. Neighbours interacted less than littermates, but more than strangers, and showed intermediate levels of cohesion and agonism. Neighbours also engaged in more recognitive contacts than strangers, but did not have fewer recognitive contacts than littermates. Defecation rates also differed among interactant types: littermates left the fewest scats in the arena, neighbours deposited an intermediate number and strangers defecated the most. My results substantiate those of earlier laboratory studies suggesting that the discrimination of littermates from neighbouring juveniles persists in the natural context. These data also extend those earlier findings by demonstrating that juveniles come to discriminate neighbours from strangers. Comparisons of the behaviour of related vs. unrelated neighbours reveal that neighbour/stranger discrimination is contingent upon differential familiarity. Simultaneous social discrimination at the levels documented could promote kin‐biased behaviour and cooperation among both related and unrelated neighbours.
Matriphagy in the Spider Amaurobius ferox (Araneidae, Amaurobiidae): an Example of Mother‐Offspring Interactions
Authors: Kim Kil‐Won , Horel André 
Published: May 2010

AbstractIn the spiderAmaurobius ferox, the mothers are systematically devoured by their young at a fairly constant interval. Observation of broods maintained under normal conditions showed the cannibalistic processes to be achieved within a few hours, in the course of which mothers and offspring appeared to exchange stimulation. In particular, the mothers exhibited ‘solicitation’ behaviours which appeared to activate and synchronize the young. An experiment was carried out to specify the respective role played by the two parties of the dyad in this case of matriphagy. The female's attitude towards the young (‘solicitation’, tolerance or predatory response) appeared to depend on her reproductive state. The attitude of the young towards the female (cannibalism, attraction, or flight) was shown to depend on their stage of development, but also on the female's attitude. These results support the hypothesis that, inA. ferox, matriphagy is regulated by mother‐offspring interactions. Such a mechanism could ensure precise tuning of matriphagy in relation to the requirements of the young, and a certain amount of flexibility in reproduction.
A Possible Explanation for Cryptic Female Choice in the Yellow Dung Fly, Scathophaga stercoraria (L.)
Authors: Ward Paul I. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractCryptic, or post‐copulatory, female choice could markedly affect the outcome of sperm competition, i.e. a female could differentially manipulate ejaculates within her own body, affecting the fertilization successes of her mating partners. Female yellow dung flies, Scathophaga (Scatophaga) stercoraria, have three spermathecae, the sperm‐storage organs, and can to some extent store the sperm of different males in different places. I show that a female's body size, as well as those of her mates, influences the process of sperm storage. Furthermore, females lay eggs of different genotypes under different environmental conditions. Females use both cues correlated with single locus variation (at the locus for the enzyme phosphoglucomutase, PGM) and quantitative trait variation (in body size and development time) when using sperm to fertilize their eggs. It is proposed that this allows a female to match the genotypes of her offspring to the conditions in which the larvae must grow, thus increasing their subsequent fitness. I describe an experiment where larvae of different PGM genotypes were raised in different environments and the most successful genotype was different in different environments. The complexity of the female reproductive system may therefore have evolved because the best father for a female's offspring, from the female's viewpoint, is different under different environmental conditions. The effect interacts with the established male‐determined effects to influence the outcome of sperm competition.
Laterality of Hand Function in Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella): Comparison between Tool Use Actions and Spontaneous Non‐tool Actions
Authors: Westergaard Gregory Charles , Kuhn Heather E. , Suomi Stephen J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractThis study examined hand preference for tool use and spontaneous non‐tool actions in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). We noted a lack of lateral bias across measures, and greater strength of hand preference for tool use than for self‐directed or feeding activities. Animals that used tools exhibited a population‐level right‐hand bias for self‐touching whereas animals that did not use tools exhibited a lack of lateral bias for this measure. Our findings are consistent with views that hand preference is expressed more strongly for tool use than for non‐tool activities, and that lateral bias for self‐directed behavior is related to problem‐solving skills in primates.
Post‐conflict Behaviour of Wild Olive Baboons. II. Stress and Self‐directed Behaviour
Authors: Castles Duncan L. , Whiten Andrew 
Published: May 2010

AbstractPrevious studies indicate that the proximate function of post‐conflict affiliative interaction among primates is to reduce a victim's uncertainty about its opponent's future behaviour: the ‘uncertainty reduction hypothesis’ (Aureli & van Schaik 1991; Ethology, 89, 101–114). This study confirms and extends these results, demonstrating that they are neither a product of captivity nor specific to macaques: both victims and initiators of aggression in a large group of wild olive baboons exhibited elevated rates of self‐directed behaviour (SDB) ‐ scratching, autogrooming, body‐shaking and yawning ‐ in a 10‐min post‐conflict period. During this period, they were more likely to receive further aggression. Reconciliation reduced both SDB and the incidence of further aggression. However, reconciliation only reduced SDB among individuals involved in conflicts in which both parties exchanged aggression. It is suggested that aggressors in unilateral conflicts were aroused rather than uncertain and that their victims' lack of control over post‐conflict interactions (which tended to be initiated by their opponents) prevented them from benefiting from reconciliation in the same fashion as longtailed macaque victims, which frequently initiated reconciliation.
Effects of Hunger on Mate‐choice Copying in the Guppy
Authors: Dugatkin Lee Alan , Godin Jean‐Guy J. 
Published: May 2010

AbstractOne potential opportunity cost associated with direct assessment of males by females is lost foraging time. It has been hypothesized previously that females may reduce their mate‐assessment time by copying the known mate choice of other females. If mate copying reduces mate‐assessment time, then females that engage in copying behaviour should have more time available for foraging. In this study, we experimentally investigated the effects of hunger, and thus the immediate need for energy, on the tendency of female guppies,Poecilia reticulata, to copy the mate choice of others. We manipulated the hunger level of individual females in four different treatments by either depriving them of any food or giving them unlimited access to food for 24 h or 48 h prior to testing their mating preference. Each female was then allowed to choose between two stimulus males, matched for size and colour, after having viewed another female (the model) apparently choose one of the males as a mate. We predicted that hungry female guppies should be more likely to engage in mate‐choice copying than more recently fed females, when given the opportunity. Contrary to our a priori prediction, only the most well‐fed females (with prior access to feed for 48 h) copied the mate choice of the model female significantly more often than expected by chance. Females in each of the other three treatments chose randomly between the two stimulus males presented.