Publication Date:
2016-01-20
Description:
Pre-existing female biases are female preferences for a particular trait that evolved prior to the evolution of that trait. Phylogenies are needed to show when the preference and trait have originated. In several live-bearing fishes (Poeciliidae), females show pre-existing biases for male swords, a colorful extension of the caudal fin. Here, we investigated the pre-existing bias hypothesis by predicting preferences for a sword in several molly species, including 2 unusual species in the monophyletic subclade Mollienesia : the Amazon molly, Poecilia formosa , a sperm-dependent hybrid form, and the Tamesi molly, Poecilia latipunctata , a species in the long-fin molly clade, that has a short-fin morphology. Using published sequence data available for this family, behavioral approaches, robust phylogenetic analyses, and Bayesian ancestral state reconstructions, we tested whether the hybrid P. formosa has a preference similar to the maternal ancestor, Poecilia mexicana , or the paternal ancestor, Poecilia latipinna . Surprisingly, the preference shown by P. formosa was variable between populations and matched the preference found in the co-occurring host species. In P. latipunctata , we found a pre-existing bias for sworded males, suggesting that this represents an ancestral trait for the long-fin molly clade. On the basis of the combined evidence from multiple studies, it seems as if pre-existing biases for sworded males are relatively basal to poeciliids and that existing phylogenetic relationships allow us to predict sensory biases.
Print ISSN:
1045-2249
Electronic ISSN:
1465-7279
Topics:
Biology
