BIO

Hello. My name is Ariana Mendez. I am a second-year Biological Sciences major, and I am from Houston, TX. My research interests vary a lot, just because I feel like there is so much to learn about our world. I particularly enjoy learning about Ecology, Marine Biology, and Medicine and I would say that these are the largest contributors to my interests, but I am hopeful that I am able to expand my horizons in the future.

Female Mating Preference Tied to Negative Frequency Dependent Selection (NFDS)

Abstract

Genetic differences matter because populations can be drastically altered over time through seemingly minor changes in frequency throughout a short period (Hughes et al 2013). In many species, we can see that individual organisms have numerous genetic differences from one another, and we don’t fully understand why. One possible reason for this variation is the idea of negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) (Olendorf et al. 2006). NFDS means that rare phenotypes have an advantage. Female mating preference for males with rare traits is one possible cause of reduced genetic variation over time. In our study species, the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), we are diving into the potential reasoning behind female mate selection. Our prediction is that initially rare-colored males will increase in frequency over time due to biased female mate choice. This occurrence would show that genetic differences can accumulate within a species due to novelty in NFDS and female mating preference.

Keywords: Ecology Evolution Selection