Data from: Indirect fitness benefits can reinforce the direct fitness benefits of male mate choice
Data files
Apr 09, 2025 version files 33.06 KB
-
MMCIND_DRS.csv
1.34 KB
-
MMCIND_DRS.R
1.24 KB
-
MMCIND_Juv.csv
3.03 KB
-
MMCIND_Juv.R
2.29 KB
-
MMCIND_Mom_Fec.csv
2.91 KB
-
MMCIND_Mom_Fec.R
886 B
-
MMCIND_OffSize.csv
8.07 KB
-
MMCIND_OffSizeJMPlogs.rtf
4.50 KB
-
MMCIND_SRS.csv
2.45 KB
-
MMCIND_SRS.R
1.45 KB
-
README.md
4.92 KB
Abstract
Mating preferences frequently evolve because they confer fitness benefits to the chooser. While there is strong evidence for both direct and indirect fitness benefits in the context of female mate choice, the potential for males to receive indirect benefits from mate choice remains understudied. Male mate choice for larger female body size is widespread among ectotherms and is generally attributed to the direct fitness benefits larger females provide due to their higher fecundity. However, when female size is heritable or condition-dependent, males could also receive indirect benefits from mating with larger females in the form of increased offspring fitness. We tested this possibility in Drosophila melanogaster by first confirming the direct fitness benefits associated with large females and then comparing the fitness of offspring produced by large versus small females. Although female body size did not influence offspring juvenile viability, large females produced daughters with higher reproductive success than the daughters of small females. Males only received these indirect benefits through their daughters, however, as reproductive success did not differ significantly between the sons of large and small females. Our findings demonstrate that indirect fitness benefits can serve to reinforce the direct benefits of male mate choice, suggesting that indirect effects may play an underappreciated role in the evolution of male preferences.
Description of the data and file structure
MMCIND_Mom_Fec.csv
Fecundity data for large and small females. Data are displayed in Figure 1.
“Block” = the experimental block
“MomSize” = the size of the female (L = large, S = small)
“VialID” = the replicate vial that the 10 females were sampled from for each block
“Fecundity” = the fecundity (number of eggs laid) for that female
MMCIND_Juv.csv
Juvenile viability data for offspring produced by large and small females. Data are displayed in Figure 2.
“Block” = the experimental block
“Vial” = the replicate vial for that block
“OLRE” = an observation-level random effect added to help with over dispersion
“FemSize” = the size of the female that produced the eggs (L = large, S = small)
“TotalRed” = the total number of wild-type offspring (i.e., produced by the large or small female) that survived to adulthood (out of 30 eggs)
“TotalRedDead” = the number of wild-type offspring (i.e., produced by the large or small female) that did not survive to adulthood
“TotalBrown” = the total number of brown-eyed competitor offspring that survived to adulthood (out of 150 eggs)
“TotalFlies” = the total number of flies (red+brown) that survived to adulthood (out of 180 eggs)
MMCIND_DRS.csv
Reproductive success data for daughters produced by large and small females. Data are displayed in Figure 3a.
“Block” = the experimental block
“Vial” = the replicate vial for that block
“FemSize” = the size of the female that produced the daughters (L = large, S = small)
“RS” = the reproductive success (total number of offspring produced) for that daughter
MMCIND_SRS.csv
Reproductive success data for sons produced by large and small females. Data are displayed in Figure 3b.
“Block” = the experimental block
“Vial” = the replicate vial for that block
“FemSize” = the size of the female that produced the sons (L = large, S = small)
“TotalRed” = the total number of red-eyed offspring sired by that son across the 16 females he was held with
“TotalBw” = the total number of brown-eyed offspring sired by a bw competitor male across the 16 females that the son was held with
“GrandTotalFlies” = the total number of offspring produced by the 16 females
“JVRed” = the number of red-eyed males present with the target son in the juvenile vial
“JVBw” = the number of brown-eyed males present with the target son in the juvenile vial
MMCIND_OffSize.csv
Offspring size data for daughters and sons produced by large and small females. Data are displayed in Figure 4a (daughters) and Figure 4b (sons).
“Block” = the experimental block
“FemaleSize” = the size of the female that produced the red-eyed offspring
“Diameter” = the diameter of the hole size for a given sieve (in um)
“RedF” = the number of red-eyed females (i.e., daughters of large or small females) in a given sieve
“RedM” = the number of red-eyed males (i.e., sons of large or small females) in a given sieve
“bwF” = the number of brown-eyed competitor females in a given sieve
“bwM” = the number of brown-eyed competitor males in a given sieve
“TotalRed” = the total number of red-eyed flies (i.e., males + females) in a given sieve
“TotalBw” = the total number of brown-eyed competitor flies (i.e., males + females) in a given sieve
Sharing/Access information
Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: N/A
Data was derived from the following sources: N/A
Code/Software
R scripts for models for analyses testing for direct and indirect fitness benefits
All analyses performed using R 4.4.1 and the following packages:
glmmTMB 1.1.9
car 3.1.2
emmeans 1.10.3
MMCIND_Mom_Fec.R
R code for the negative binomial GLMM testing for differences in large and small female fecundity using the data in MMCIND_Mom_Fec.csv
MMCIND_Juv.R
R code for the binomial GLMM testing for differences in juvenile offspring survival between offspring produced by large and small females using the data in MMCIND_Juv.csv
MMCIND_DRS.R
R code for the negative binomial GLMM testing for differences in reproductive success between daughters produced by large and small females using the data in MMCIND_DRS.csv
MMCIND_SRS.R
R code for the negative binomial GLMM testing for differences in reproductive success between sons produced by large and small females using the data in MMCIND_SRS.csv
JMP logs for offspring size analysis
All analysis performed using JMP 18.
MMCIND_OffSizeJMPlogs.rtf
Output logs containing the JMP scripts for the following analyses using the data in MMCIND_OffSize.csv:
*the mixed-effect ANOVA testing for differences in adult body size for daughters produced by large and small females
*the mixed-effect ANOVA testing for differences in adult body size for sons produced by large and small females