Data from: Female mate fidelity in a lek mating system and its implications for the evolution of cooperative lekking behavior

The extent and importance of female mate fidelity in polygynous mating systems are poorly known. Fidelity may contribute to high variance in male reproductive success when it favors attractive mates or may stabilize social interactions if females are faithful to mating sites rather than males. Using 12 years of data on genetic mate choice in the cooperatively lekking lance-tailed manakin (Chiroxiphia lanceolata), I investigated the frequency of fidelity within and between years, whether females were faithful to individual males or to mating sites across years, and whether fidelity favored attractive males. Mate fidelity occurred in 41.7% of 120 between-year comparisons and was observed for 41.1% of 73 individual females that had the opportunity to mate faithfully. Females were not more likely to mate at prior mating sites when previous mates were replaced. Faithful females mated with the same male in up to four consecutive years but were not disproportionately faithful to attractive partners. Mating history influences current mate choice, and fidelity in this lekking system apparently represents active mate choice by females but little consensus in mate choices among faithful females. This study underscores the prevalence of mate fidelity in polygynous mating systems and emphasizes the need to consider the larger context of lifetime reproductive behavior when interpreting patterns of female choice.

在一雄多雌制交配系统中，雌性配偶保真度的分布范围与重要性迄今仍未得到充分认知。当雌性配偶保真度偏向选择具有吸引力的雄性时，可能会加剧雄性繁殖成功率的个体差异；而若雌性忠于交配位点而非特定雄性个体，则有助于稳定社群互动关系。本研究以时长12年的、针对合作求偶尖尾娇鹟（Chiroxiphia lanceolata）的遗传配偶选择数据为基础，探究了年度内与年度间的配偶保真发生频率，检验了雌性究竟是忠于单个雄性，还是跨年度忠于特定交配位点，并验证了配偶保真度是否倾向于选择更具吸引力的雄性。在120次年度间配对比较中，有41.7%出现了配偶保真行为；在73只具备保真交配机会的雌性个体中，41.1%的个体表现出了配偶保真行为。当雌性此前的交配配偶被替换后，它们并不会更倾向于前往原交配位点进行交配。表现出配偶保真行为的雌性可连续最多4年与同一雄性交配，但它们并不会过度偏好选择有吸引力的雄性作为配偶。交配历史会影响雌性当下的配偶选择，在该求偶场系统中，配偶保真行为本质上是雌性主动进行的配偶选择，但表现出保真行为的雌性之间在配偶选择上几乎不存在共识。本研究证实了一雄多雌制交配系统中配偶保真行为的普遍性，并强调在解读雌性配偶选择模式时，需将雌性终生繁殖行为的完整背景纳入考量范畴。