Why signal if you are not attractive? Courtship synchrony in a fiddler crab

Lauren M Harrison, Gabriela C Melo, Daniela M Perez and Patricia R Y Backwell

Behavioral Ecology, 2021, vol. 32, issue 6, 1224-1229

Abstract: Males that stand out from the crowd attract female attention. Yet male fiddler crabs display in synchrony, even though females prefer “leader” males that wave slightly before the others (followers). So why wave when you are not a leader? Using robotic male crabs, we found that females do prefer leaders over followers, but groups with leaders attract more females from a distance than groups without one. Synchrony can therefore benefit all males within the group.

Keywords: fiddler crab; lek; mate choice; sexual selection; signal; synchrony; visual courtship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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