Meeting Abstract
Animal mating behavior is influenced by both genetic background and lifetime experience. We sought to investigate how genetic adaptations to environmental stressors interact with events within an organism’s lifetime to alter behavior. Reproductively isolated populations of Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) occur in environments with either high or low predation rates. Evolutionary history with predators influences many phenotypes, including male courtship strategy. We observed male guppies from high predation, low predation, and intercross populations in their first encounter with a female. After 24 hours, we repeated the mating encounter to observe differences in mating strategy. We recorded occurrences of a variety of courtship behaviors in these encounters to determine how the effect of sexual experience on courtship strategy is influenced by population predation history. Our results describe the extent to which heritable factors contribute to learning in guppies. Follow-up experiments will investigate specific genetic loci which may influence mating behavior.
