Brief Communications Arising
Nature 444, E16-E17 (14 December 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature05502; Published online 13 December 2006
Evolutionary genetics: Evolution of mate choice in the wild (Reply)
Anna Qvarnström1, Jon E. Brommer2 and Lars Gustafsson1
Replying to Postma, Griffith and Brooks
We have shown1that there is little scope for selection on male flycatchers' forehead patch size to drive the evolution of female choice for this ornament indirectly. Postma et al.2question this conclusion, arguing that a female's social partner (that is, realized mate choice) is not a good estimate of her preference, and that our estimates are biased because we do not take patterns of extra-pair paternity into account. However, indirect sexual selection can only operate through realized mate choice, and extra-pair copulations are associated with larger costs than indirect benefits.
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
- Bird Ecology Unit, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, PO Box 65 (Viksbågen 1), University of Helsinki, 00014 Finland
Correspondence to: Anna Qvarnström1 Email: anna.qvarnstrom@ebc.uu.se
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