Ecology 5th Edition by Manuel Molles

Exercise 1

Examine figure 8.9. While most of the male guppies that successfully mated were dominant, a substantial proportion of attractive males that sired broods were subordinate. How might we interpret this reproductive success by attractive but subordinate males? What might these results indicate about the potential influence of female choice on mating success among male guppies?
Figure 8.9 Relative reproductive success by attractive versus unattractive and dominant versus subordinate male guppies (data from Kodric-Brown 1993).