Abstract
For a long time, mate-choice copying was thought to be restricted to lekking and polygynous species. Yet, recent experimental studies revealed that social information can play a role in the evolution of mate preferences in monogamous species with biparental care. However, this phenomenon has been demonstrated only under particular conditions and the prevalence and importance of this phenomenon therefore remains to be evaluated. In particular, previous laboratory experiments have consisted in exposing test females to only one paired male at a time, while under natural conditions monogamous females are likely to observe the choice of several females before making a decision. Thus, in the present study, female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) could observe two model females simultaneously, that provided either inconsistent or consistent information, depending on whether they were interacting with different types of males or with males of a same phenotype. We found that the relative importance given to private and social information on females’ preferences varied with the consistency of social information and females significantly changed their preference only when social information was consistent. There was, nevertheless, a large variation in their responses. We suggest that such variations could be due to the fact that the benefits of mate-choice copying are frequency-dependent, and that this constrain would further contribute to limit the use of social information in monogamous species.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Sophie St-Cyr for her assistance during the experiments, Nadia Aubin-Horth, Wolfgang Forstmeier and an anonymous referee for their constructive comments on a previous version of the manuscript. During this study, D. Drullion was supported from research grants awarded to F. Dubois by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada). The research presented here was carried out under animal care permit 06-005 provided by Université de Montréal and conforms to guidelines of the Canadian Council for Animal Care.
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Drullion, D., Dubois, F. Mate-choice copying by female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata: what happens when model females provide inconsistent information?. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63, 269–276 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0658-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-008-0658-5