Article
Ecology
Natalie Pilakouta, Anafs Baillet
Summary: This study conducted a meta-analysis to examine the effects of temperature on mating latency, choosiness, and mating success. The results showed no overall effect of temperature on these traits, but an increase in mating success when animals were exposed to higher temperatures during mating trials. Additionally, there was a negative relationship between mating latency and mating success.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Philip Kohlmeier, Ye Zhang, Jenke A. Gorter, Chih-Ying Su, Jean-Christophe Billeter
Summary: This study demonstrates that Drosophila melanogaster females become more selective after mating due to the increased release of juvenile hormone, which affects their sensitivity to male-produced pheromones. Polyandry allows mating-status-dependent choosiness, enabling females to acquire sperm in a timely manner and enhance offspring quality. The neurohormonal mechanism underlying mating-status-dependent choosiness provides insights into how juvenile hormone modulates behavior and emphasizes the importance of mated females in intersexual selection in polyandrous species.
NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Alexander T. Baugh, Megan D. Gall, Stewart C. Silver, Mark A. Bee
Summary: In breeding Cope's gray treefrogs, it was found that glucocorticoid concentrations have an impact on female sexual behavior, particularly on mate choosiness. The study showed that moderate levels of GCs can significantly increase female mate choosiness, while having no effect on sexual proceptivity or intraspecific preferences.
HORMONES AND BEHAVIOR
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Olivia Feagles, Gerlinde Hobel
Summary: Mate choice is a crucial factor in natural and sexual selection, and understanding the roles of different components is essential for comprehending its contribution.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Konrad Lipkowski, Sophie Steigerwald, Lisa M. Schulte, Carolin Sommer-Trembo, Jonas Jourdan
Summary: This study compared male mate choosiness in freshwater amphipods and evaluated the influence of population density and sex ratio on mate selection. Results showed significant effects of sex ratio and population density on choosiness, with amphipods adjusting mating strategies based on social conditions.
Article
Biology
Peter M. Kappeler, Sarah Benhaiem, Claudia Fichtel, Lutz Fromhage, Oliver P. Hoener, Michael D. Jennions, Sylvia Kaiser, Oliver Krueger, Jutta M. Schneider, Cristina Tuni, Jaap van Schaik, Wolfgang Goymann
Summary: In species with separate sexes, females and males often have different characteristics and behaviors that are linked to reproductive competition, mate choice, and parental care. The variation in adult sex ratio (ASR) is found to be a key factor influencing sex roles within and across species. This article discusses the historical emergence of the sex role concept, reviews the different sex ratios with a focus on ASR, and examines the causes and consequences of biased ASRs on various aspects of animal behavior and physiology, emphasizing the sensitivity of animals to local ASR variation on short timescales.
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Michael J. Ryan
Summary: Darwin's theory of sexual selection, proposed one hundred fifty years ago, focuses on female preferences for elaborately ornamented males due to their taste for beauty. Research has since explored fitness advantages, sensory ecology, signal design, neural circuits, and neurochemistry, providing insight into the mechanisms behind mate choice. Recent studies inspired by human research in psychophysics, behavioral economics, and neuroaesthetics have further advanced our understanding of mate choices.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Koutaro Ould Maeno, Cyril Piou, Sidi Ould Ely, Sid'Ahmed Ould Mohamed, Mohamed El Hacen Jaavar, Said Ghaout, Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Babah Ebbe
Summary: Male mating harassment can be reduced in dense populations of desert locusts through behavioral adaptations, where non-gravid females and males live separately while males wait for gravid females at lekking sites to mate. In low-density populations, solitarious locusts display balanced sex ratios and females mate regardless of ovarian state. This suggests that group separation based on sex biases behavior to minimize male mating harassment and competition.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ke Gao, Michiel van Wijk, Quynh T. D. Dang, David G. Heckel, Myron P. Zalucki, Astrid T. Groot
Summary: Parasites can influence sexual selection and reproductive strategies in both males and females, with infected individuals experiencing different outcomes in terms of reproductive success.
Review
Ecology
Liam R. Dougherty
Summary: Research indicates that animal mating behavior is influenced by environmental factors, with mate choice strength being significantly affected by population density, sex ratio, and predation risk. However, the evidence for context-dependent mating behavior across animals is surprisingly weak overall.
Article
Ecology
Ryan Calsbeek, Francisco Javier Zamora-Camacho, Laurel B. Symes
Summary: A novel application of acoustic camera technology was used to investigate the influence of individual wood frogs' calls on chorus properties and mating opportunities. The results showed that males and females preferred choruses with low variance in dominant frequency, and females preferred choruses with low mean peak frequency. Field studies revealed that more egg masses were laid in ponds where male frogs chorused with low variance in dominant frequency.
Article
Ecology
Brian A. Lerch, Maria R. Servedio
Summary: The presence of same-sex sexual behavior across the animal kingdom is often seen as surprising. One possible explanation is indiscriminate mating, where individuals do not try to determine the sex of potential partners before copulation. This strategy is believed to be an ancestral mode of reproduction and can be a beneficial strategy considering the costs of selective mating. It is important to note that sex discrimination requires not only the attempt to differentiate between sexes, but also some detectable difference (a signal or cue). Based on modeling of mating behavior, it is found that under various parameters, including some with minor costs, indiscriminate mating and the absence of sexual signals can be an evolutionary endpoint. Additionally, the absence of both sex discrimination and sexual signals is always evolutionarily stable. These findings suggest that the observable differences between sexes likely arose as a by-product of the evolution of different sexes, allowing for the evolution of sex discrimination.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Bogdan Kostic, John E. Scofield
Summary: This study explores the differences in mate preferences between heterosexual and non-heterosexual populations, finding typical sex differences between heterosexual men and women in most measures. Interestingly, bisexual respondents show greater differences from heterosexual respondents than homosexual respondents in certain aspects. The results suggest that homosexual and bisexual individuals may not always form a homogenous group.
ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Haixia Li, Jie Wang, Xu Zhang, Yu Hu, Qinglin Cai, Ying Liu, Zhen Ma
Summary: This study analyzed the differences in mate choice behavior and criteria between males and females in Aequidens rivulatus. The results showed that males paid more attention to female attractiveness and preference degree, whereas females focused on male ability and appearance. These findings are crucial for improving artificial mating and determining successful mating.
Article
Psychology, Social
Naomi Staller, Christoph Randler
Summary: The study found that morningness in males is correlated with higher attractiveness-rating and dating desire, while the results for evening-orientated males and females in general were not significant. Evening types may be more choosy in mate selection, which could be a reason for their higher mating success.
PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
(2021)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Petra Kretzschmar, Hailie Auld, Peter Boag, Udo Ganslosser, Candace Scott, Peter John Van Coeverden de Groot, Alexandre Courtiol
EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS
(2020)
Article
Biology
K. A. Kravchenko, A. S. Vlaschenko, L. S. Lehnert, A. Courtiol, C. C. Voigt
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Cecilia Kruszynski, Liam D. Bailey, Alexandre Courtiol, Lothar Bach, Petra Bach, Matthias Goettsche, Michael Goettsche, Reinhold Hill, Oliver Lindecke, Hinrich Matthes, Henrik Pommeranz, Ana G. Popa-Lisseanu, Antje Seebens-Hoyer, Marion Tichomirowa, Christian C. Voigt
Summary: Identifying migratory corridors of animals, particularly elusive ones such as bats, is essential for effective protection. This study used isotope analysis to track the migration pathways of Nathusius' pipistrelles, revealing their origins mostly from Eastern Europe and potentially even from Belarus, with a possible migratory path from Fennoscandia to Germany also highlighted.
RAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manuela Merling de Chapa, Alexandre Courtiol, Marc Engler, Lisa Giese, Christian Rutz, Michael Lakermann, Gerard Muskens, Youri van der Horst, Ronald Zollinger, Hans Wirth, Norbert Kenntner, Oliver Krueger, Nayden Chakarov, Anna-Katharina Mueller, Volkher Looft, Thomas Gruenkorn, Andre Hallau, Rainer Altenkamp, Oliver Krone
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2020)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jeanne Tonnabel, Etienne K. Klein, Ophelie Ronce, Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio, Francois Rousset, Isabelle Olivieri, Alexandre Courtiol, Agnes Mignot
Summary: The study investigates sexual dimorphism in plants, specifically in the dioecious wind-pollinated shrub Leucadendron rubrum, and suggests that sexual differences exist in selection of traits and effective fecundity. While males exhibit stronger spatial autocorrelation in effective fecundity at a smaller scale, higher plant density is associated with lower effective fecundity in males but not in females. Despite these sex-specific sensitivities to environmental heterogeneity, directional selection for certain traits is observed in both sexes without sexually antagonistic selection on strongly dimorphic traits.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Thimothee Virgoulay, Francois Rousset, Camille Nous, Raphael Leblois
Summary: GSpace is a simulator for genomic data based on a generation-by-generation coalescence algorithm, which takes into account small population size, recombination, and isolation by distance.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Anisha Dayaram, Peter Seeber, Alexandre Courtiol, Sanatana Soilemetzidou, Kyriakos Tsangaras, Mathias Franz, Gayle K. McEwen, Walid Azab, Petra Kaczensky, Joerg Melzheimer, Marion L. East, Oyunsaikhan Ganbaatar, Christian Walzer, Nikolaus Osterrieder, Alex D. Greenwood
Summary: In climates with limited seasonal precipitation, viruses can use animal congregations at scarce water sources to spread. Equid herpesviruses (EHVs) were found to remain stable and infectious in water, with different strains shedding more frequently during the dry season. The study showed high genome copy numbers of EHVs in waterholes across various mammalian assemblages, with little divergence among ancient lineages. EHVs were stable in waterholes and remained infectious, supporting water as an abiotic viral vector for EHV transmission.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Correction
Biochemical Research Methods
Thimothee Virgoulay, Francois Rousset, Raphael Leblois
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Timothee Bonnet, Michael B. Morrissey, Pierre de Villemereuil, Susan C. Alberts, Peter Arcese, Liam D. Bailey, Stan Boutin, Patricia Brekke, Lauren J. N. Brent, Glauco Camenisch, Anne Charmantier, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Andrew Cockburn, David W. Coltman, Alexandre Courtiol, Eve Davidian, Simon R. Evans, John G. Ewen, Marco Festa-Bianchet, Christophe de Franceschi, Lars Gustafsson, Oliver P. Honer, Thomas M. Houslay, Lukas F. Keller, Marta Manser, Andrew G. McAdam, Emily McLean, Pirmin Nietlisbach, Helen L. Osmond, Josephine M. Pemberton, Erik Postma, Jane M. Reid, Alexis Rutschmann, Anna W. Santure, Ben C. Sheldon, Jon Slate, Celine Teplitsky, Marcel E. Visser, Bettina Wachter, Loeske E. B. Kruuk
Summary: This study analyzed long-term data from 19 wild bird and mammal populations and found that additive genetic variance in relative fitness is often substantial and, on average, twice that of previous estimates. These rates of contemporary adaptive evolution can affect population dynamics and suggest that natural selection has the potential to partly mitigate effects of current environmental change.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ian J. Rickard, Colin Vullioud, Francois Rousset, Erik Postma, Samuli Helle, Virpi Lummaa, Ritva Kylli, Jenni E. Pettay, Eivin Roskaft, Gine R. Skjaervo, Charlotte Stoermer, Eckart Voland, Dominique Waldvogel, Alexandre Courtiol
Summary: Historically, mothers producing twins were believed to have higher intrinsic fertility. However, a recent study shows that the interpretation was flawed due to ecological fallacy. It was found that higher twinning propensity in mothers did not result in more births, but rather fewer births and lower offspring survival rates.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Arjun Dheer, Eve Davidian, Alexandre Courtiol, Liam D. Bailey, Jella Wauters, Philemon Naman, Victoria Shayo, Oliver P. Honer
Summary: Anthropogenic activity can have varying effects on wildlife, depending on the characteristics of the activity and species involved. This study focused on the impact of diurnal pastoralism on a population of free-ranging spotted hyenas. The findings suggest that the predictable nature of the pastoralism, combined with the socio-ecology of spotted hyenas and abundant prey resources, resulted in no detectable deleterious effects on the hyenas.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Michael R. Appleton, Alexandre Courtiol, Lucy Emerton, James L. Slade, Andrew Tilker, Lauren C. Warr, Monica Alvarez Malvido, James R. Barborak, Louise de Bruin, Rosalie Chapple, Jennifer C. Daltry, Nina P. Hadley, Christopher A. Jordan, Francois Rousset, Rohit Singh, Eleanor J. Sterling, Erin G. Wessling, Barney Long
Summary: The 2020 global spatial targets for protected areas set by the Convention on Biological Diversity have almost been achieved, but management effectiveness remains deficient. Personnel shortages are widely cited as major contributing factors but have not previously been quantified. Expansion of protected areas to 30% coverage by 2030 will require a significant increase in personnel, including rangers or equivalents, for effective management.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Michaela Wetzel, Alexandre Courtiol, Heribert Hofer, Susanne Holtze, Thomas B. B. Hildebrandt
Summary: The study investigates the determinants of early offspring survival in the naked mole-rat, a eusocial mammal. Factors such as pup body mass, maternal number of mammae, maternal body mass, and colony size significantly influence early pup survival. The influence of social factors on offspring survival in eusocial mammals is different from eusocial insects due to the level of sociality. The study contributes to a better understanding of the origin and maintenance of eusociality in mammals.