CiteULike is a free online bibliography manager. Register and you can start organising your references online.

Adaptive Plasticity in Female Mate Choice Dampens Sexual Selection on Male Ornaments in the Lark Bunting Export

Science, Vol. 319, No. 5862. (25 January 2008), pp. 459-462.

Citation Format

[Posts]

View FullText article


wilkinm's tags for this article

bunting choice female plasticity selection sexual

X Reviews [Write a review of this article]

X Find related articles from these CiteULike users

X Find related articles with these CiteULike tags

X Posting History

X Abstract

Theory on the evolution of ornamental male traits by sexual selection assumes consistency in selection over time. Temporal variation in female choice could dampen sexual selection, but scant information exists on the degree to which individual female preferences are flexible. Here we show that in lark buntings sexual selection on male traits varied dramatically across years and, in some cases, exhibited reversals in the direction of selection for a single trait. We show that these shifts are probably because of flexibility in mate choice by individual females and that they parallel shifts in the male traits that predict female reproductive success in a given year. Plasticity in choice and concomitant reversals in mating patterns across time may weaken the strength of sexual selection and could maintain genetic variation underlying multiple sexual ornaments. 10.1126/science.1149167


X BibTeX record

X RIS record


Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions
CiteULike organises scholarly (or academic) papers or literature and provides bibliographic (which means it makes bibliographies) for universities and higher education establishments. It helps undergraduates and postgraduates. People studying for PhDs or in postdoctoral (postdoc) positions. The service is similar in scope to EndNote or RefWorks or any other reference manager like BibTeX, but it is a social bookmarking service for scientists and humanities researchers.