Assessment of mate preference in the house mouse with reference to investigations on assortative mating.

Autor: Ganem, Guila, Ginane, Cécile, Ostrowski, Marie-France, Orth, Annie
Předmět:
Zdroj: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society; Mar2005, Vol. 84 Issue 3, p461-471, 11p
Abstrakt: This study analysed patterns of mate choice based on different types of laboratory test, and points out the advantages of combined methods to assess mate preference. We compared dyadic encounters and two-way choice tests involving a pair of mice or their urinary signature. Preference was assessed in males and females of the two European subspecies of the house mouseMus musculusthat share a secondary hybrid zone. A preference was deduced from directional choice or behavioural discrimination in favour of a mouse. Our results show discrepancies between the outcomes of the different types of test, which we discuss in terms of the quality of the stimuli involved, and of physical access to the information carried by those stimuli. Despite variation, our results indicate thatM. m. domesticusdid not show a preference, but could discriminate between stimuli of the two subspecies and tended to direct sexual behaviour assortatively. In contrast, both male and femaleM. m. musculusshowed positive discrimination and preference for potential mates and signals carried by their own subspecies. Additionally, our results confirm that subspecies informative signals are present in mouse urine and suggest that they may be molecules of low volatility, necessitating contact for preference to be displayed. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London,Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005,84, 461–471. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index