PhD Research Project

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Mutual mate choice and the double-process of sexual selection

Institution:

University of St Andrews

Dept/School/Faculty:

School of Biology

PhD Supervisor:

Dr C Smith

Application Deadline:

Applications accepted all year round

PhD Research Project

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While it is generally the case that females are the choosy sex, under certain circumstances a role for male mate choice can be predicted from sexual selection theory. Indeed Darwin identified a role for mutual mate choice in his theory of sexual selection, a process he termed the “double-process” of sexual selection. Remarkably, given the huge interest in sexual selection, this aspect of Darwin’s otherwise influential ideas on sexual selection has been almost wholly overlooked. The conditions under which mutual mate choice is predicted to evolve are with species displaying biparental care, when extra-pair matings are rare, and when mate finding costs are low. These conditions are met in a group of Central American substrate-brooding cichlid fishes, in which there is good circumstantial evidence that female as well as male mate choice operates. The goal of the proposed project will be to use a combination of behavioural, physiological, and genetic analyses to investigate the role of mutual mate choice in the mating system of a clade of these fishes, and to employ a modelling approach to explore the consequences of simultaneous mate preference for rates of character evolution and speciation. The project will provide the candidate with training in behavioural analyses, statistical analyses, parentage analysis, and simulation modelling.

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