• DOI:10.1073/PNAS.95.8.4431
Corpus ID: 233957

Female preference for swords in Xiphophorus helleri reflects a bias for large apparent size.

@article{Rosenthal1998FemalePF,
  title={Female preference for swords in Xiphophorus helleri reflects a bias for large apparent size.},
  author={G. Rosenthal and C. S. Evans},
  journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
  year={1998},
  volume={95 8},
  pages={
          4431-6
        }
}

G. Rosenthal, C. S. Evans

Published 1998

Biology, Medicine

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Swordtail fish (Poeciliidae: genus Xiphophorus) are a paradigmatic case of sexual selection by sensory exploitation. Female preference for males with a conspicuous "sword" ornament is ancestral, suggesting that male morphology has evolved in response to a preexisting bias. The perceptual mechanisms underlying female mate choice have not been identified, complicating efforts to understand the selection pressures acting on ornament design. We consider two alternative models of receiver behavior… CONTINUE READING

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