You are interested in exploring the evolution of mate choice copying and, as a start, you have examined the presence/absence of mate choice copying in males and females of 30 closely related species of fish (e.g., members of the same family). You find considerable variation among species in terms of whether or not they copy and which sex (if either) copies. Now, you would like to understand whether aspects of the fishes' habitats, mating systems, and patterns of parental care and other forms of reproductive investment might explain some of this variation. Read the papers by Vakirtzis (2011), "Mate Choice Copying and Nonindependent Mate Choice: A Critical Review" (Annales Zoologici Fennici, vol. 48, pp. 91-107); and by Frommen and colleagues (2009), "Mate-Choice Copying When Both Sexes Face High Costs of Reproduction" (Evolutionary Ecology, vol. 23, pp. 435-446).
Using the content of these papers as a springboard, develop at least three hypotheses regarding conditions that might be most favorable for the evolution of mate choice copying in males, females, or both sexes. Now, based on what you learned in Chapter 2, develop a strategy for investigating the evolution of mate choice copying in your study organisms using phylogenetic methods.

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The Answer of You are interested in exploring the evolution of mate choice copying and, as a start, you have examined the presence/absence of mate choice copying in males and females of 30 closely related species of fish (e.g., members of the same family). You find considerable variation among species in terms of whether or not they copy and which sex (if either) copies. Now, you would like to understand whether aspects of the fishes' habitats, mating systems, and patterns of parental care and other forms of reproductive investment might explain some of this variation. Read the papers by Vakirtzis (2011), "Mate Choice Copying and Nonindependent Mate Choice: A Critical Review" (Annales Zoologici Fennici, vol. 48, pp. 91-107); and by Frommen and colleagues (2009), "Mate-Choice Copying When Both Sexes Face High Costs of Reproduction" (Evolutionary Ecology, vol. 23, pp. 435-446).
Using the content of these papers as a springboard, develop at least three hypotheses regarding conditions that might be most favorable for the evolution of mate choice copying in males, females, or both sexes. Now, based on what you learned in Chapter 2, develop a strategy for investigating the evolution of mate choice copying in your study organisms using phylogenetic methods.

You Are Interested in Exploring the Evolution of Mate Choice