Data from: Poison frog color morphs express assortative mate preferences in allopatry but not sympatry

The concurrent divergence of mating traits and preferences is necessary for the evolution of reproductive isolation via sexual selection, and such co-evolution has been demonstrated in diverse lineages. However, the extent to which assortative mate preferences are sufficient to drive reproductive isolation in nature is less clear. Natural contact zones between lineages divergent in traits and preferences provide exceptional opportunities for testing the predicted evolutionary consequences of such divergence. The strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) displays extreme color polymorphism in and around the young Bocas del Toro archipelago. In a transition zone between red and blue allopatric lineages, we asked whether female preferences diverged along with coloration, and whether any divergent preferences persist in a zone of sympatry. When choosing among red, blue and phenotypically intermediate males, females from monomorphic red and monomorphic blue populations both expressed assortative preferences. However, red, blue and intermediate females from the contact zone all preferred red males, suggesting that divergent preferences may be insufficient to effect behavioral isolation. Our results highlight the complexity of behavioral isolation, and the need for studies that can reveal the circumstances under which divergent preferences do and do not contribute to speciation.通过性选择（sexual selection）实现生殖隔离（reproductive isolation）的演化，需要交配性状与配偶偏好发生协同分化；这类协同演化已在众多类群中得到验证。然而，自然界中选型交配偏好（assortative mate preferences）是否足以驱动生殖隔离，其相关程度仍有待厘清。性状与偏好均存在分化的类群间的自然接触带，为检验此类分化所预测的演化后果提供了绝佳的研究契机。草莓箭毒蛙（Oophaga pumilio）在年轻的博卡斯德尔托罗群岛及其周边区域呈现出极端的体色多态性。在红色与蓝色异域分布（allopatric）类群的过渡地带中，我们探究了两个问题：其一，雌性配偶偏好是否随体色产生分化；其二，此类分化的偏好是否会在同域分布（sympatry）区域存续。当在红色、蓝色以及表型中间型雄性个体间进行选择时，来自单一红色种群与单一蓝色种群的雌性均表现出选型交配偏好。然而，接触带中的红色、蓝色及中间型雌性个体均偏好红色雄性，这表明分化的配偶偏好或许不足以促成行为隔离（behavioral isolation）。本研究结果凸显了行为隔离的复杂性，也指明了后续研究的方向：需进一步明确分化的配偶偏好在何种情境下会、又在何种情境下不会对物种形成产生贡献。