Cognitive ability is heritable and predicts the success of an alternative mating tactic

0444849 - ÚBO 2016 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Smith, Carl - Philips, A. - Reichard, Martin
Cognitive ability is heritable and predicts the success of an alternative mating tactic.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. Roč. 282, č. 1809 (2015), s. 1809. ISSN 0962-8452. E-ISSN 1471-2954
R&D Projects: GA ČR GBP505/12/G112
Institutional support: RVO:68081766
Keywords : alternative mating tactics * cognition * learning * mating system * sexual selection
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 4.823, year: 2015

The ability to attract mates, acquire resources for reproduction, and successfully outcompete rivals for fertilizations may make demands on cognitive traits—the mechanisms by which an animal acquires, processes, stores and acts upon information from its environment. Consequently, cognitive traits potentially undergo sexual selection in some mating systems. We investigated the role of cognitive traits on the reproductive performance of male rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus), a freshwater fish with a complex mating system and alternative mating tactics. We quantified the learning accuracy of males and females in a spatial learning task and scored them for learning accuracy. Males were subsequently allowed to play the roles of a guarder and a sneaker in competitive mating trials, with reproductive success measured using paternity analysis. We detected a significant interaction between male mating role and learning accuracy on reproductive success, with the best-performing males in maze trials showing greater reproductive success in a sneaker role than as a guarder. Using a cross-classified breeding design, learning accuracy was demonstrated to be heritable, with significant additive maternal and paternal effects. Our results imply that male cognitive traits may undergo intra-sexual selection.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0247318