| Male swordtails court with an audience in mind. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 17443951 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Females are usually considered to be the target of male courtship behaviour. In nature, however, social interactions rarely occur without other observers; thus, it is conceivable that some male courtship behaviours are directed not towards females, but rather towards male rivals. The northern swordtail, Xiphophorus birchmanni, is a freshwater fish found in high densities in natural streams. Males court by swimming close to and in parallel with the female, raising their large sail-like dorsal fin, and quivering briefly. Here, we show that females prefer males that display small dorsal fins to those with large ones, and that males are less aggressive to other males with large dorsal fins. Male swordtails also raise their dorsal fins more frequently when courting in the presence of other males. These results suggest that, despite female avoidance of large dorsal fins, males that raise their fin during courtship benefit by intimidating potential competitors; the intended receivers of this signal are thus males, not females. Intrasexual selection can therefore offset the forces of intersexual selection, even in a courtship display. |
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Authors:
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Heidi S Fisher; Gil G Rosenthal |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Biology letters Volume: 3 ISSN: 1744-9561 ISO Abbreviation: Biol. Lett. Publication Date: 2007 Feb |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2007-04-19 Completed Date: 2007-06-05 Revised Date: 2009-11-18 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101247722 Medline TA: Biol Lett Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 5-7 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. hfish@bu.edu |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Competitive Behavior / physiology* Cyprinodontiformes / physiology* Female Male Sexual Behavior, Animal / physiology* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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