Evol Ecol Res 7: 1039-1050 (2005)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

Male adaptive stupidity: male mating pattern in hybridogenetic frogs

Dirk Sven Schmeller,1* Robert O’Hara2 and Hanna Kokko3

1Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Fluviaux, Université Claude Bernard, Bât Darwin C, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France,  2Department of Mathematics and Statistics and  3Laboratory of Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland

Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed.
e-mail: dirk@die-schmellers.de

ABSTRACT

Question: Why do male frogs invest in heterospecific matings in hybridogenetic systems with large heterospecific and small conspecific females? When is a strategy to mate with larger females evolutionarily stable?

Mathematical method: A continuous-time model of reproductive values with discrete classes of individuals is developed to investigate the balance between two strong selective pressures: large conspecific females are the best mates, but large females are also more likely to be heterospecific.

Key assumption: Males can detect female size, but are unable to distinguish between conspecific and heterospecific females. Matings incur time costs and the mating season is limited. Therefore, males of the small parental species should evolve to ignore heterospecific females.

Conclusion: The results indicate that direct benefits of male mate choice within conspecifics can counteract the selective pressure to avoid large females as mates. This trade-off can balance out in a way that makes indiscriminate mating adaptive.

Keywords: adaptive decision, hybridogenesis, interspecies conflict, mating behaviour, mating strategy.

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