Titulo: Conflict, cooperation, genetics, and dance: factors that may decide reproductive success
Palestrante: Prof. PhD. Bette Loiselle, University of Florida
Data: 10.09.13
Hora: 17h
Local: Auditório Geral da Zoologia, IB/USP

Darwin argued that sexual selection is a potent evolutionary force that enhances numerous traits of the sex upon which it acts. The manakin family includes ~40 species of birds restricted to tropical America that are known for their elaborate courtship displays, anatomical specializations, striking male coloration, and complex social behaviors, which arise from intense sexual selection on males.  In manakins, males gather together in traditional display areas (leks) where they spend much of their adult life.  In these leks, males generally defend individual courts where they perform “dances” and other displays.  Females visit males on the lek for the purposes of copulation only as males provide no other resources for females.  In this seminar, we will explore potential conflict among males for females, and the factors that influence female choice among co-occurring species of manakins in western Amazonia.  Results from this on-going project highlight the potential importance of genetic variation, female spatial ecology and cognitive behavior, and male cooperation in determining reproductive outcomes.  The seminar will also touch upon the recent emergence of genomic resources that we hope will provide new opportunities to advance our understanding of how sexual selection acts to influence evolution of many biological phenomena using manakins as a natural model system.

http://www.wec.ufl.edu/faculty/loiselle/

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