A novel method for estimating the strength of positive mating preference by similarity in the wild

Mating preference can be a driver of sexual selection and assortative mating and is, therefore, a key element in evolutionary dynamics. Positive mating preference by similarity is the tendency for the choosy individual to select a mate which possesses a similar variant of a trait. Such preference can be modelled using Gaussian-like mathematical functions that describe the strength of preference, but such functions cannot be applied to empirical data collected from the field. As a result, traditionally, mating preference is indirectly estimated by the degree of assortative mating (using Pearson's correlation coefficient, r) in wild captured mating pairs. Unfortunately, r and similar coefficients are often biased due to the fact that different variants of a given trait are nonrandomly distributed in the wild, and pooling of mating pairs from such heterogeneous samples may lead to “false–positive” results, termed “the scale-of-choice effect” (SCE). Here we provide two new estimators of mat...

择偶偏好可作为性选择（sexual selection）与选型婚配（assortative mating）的驱动因素，因此是进化动力学（evolutionary dynamics）中的核心要素。基于相似性的正向择偶偏好，指具有择偶选择权的个体倾向于选择携带某一性状相似变异类型的配偶。此类偏好可通过刻画偏好强度的类高斯数学函数进行建模，但这类函数无法直接应用于野外采集的实证数据。因此，传统研究常通过野生捕获交配对的选型婚配程度（采用皮尔逊相关系数（Pearson's correlation coefficient, r））间接估算择偶偏好。然而，由于某一性状的不同变异类型在野外呈非随机分布，且对这类异质样本中的交配对进行合并分析可能引发“假阳性”结果，该效应被称为“选择尺度效应（scale-of-choice effect, SCE）”，皮尔逊相关系数r及类似统计量往往存在估算偏差。本文提出两种全新的择偶偏好估算……