En biologie évolutive, la variation phénotypique a longtemps été réduite au substrat sur lequel agissait la sélection naturelle. Toutefois, la constance intra-individuelle et le maintien intra-populationnel de certains comportements conduisirent au milieu des années 90 au développement du concept de personnalité animale, basé sur la caractérisation de traits tels que la néophobie, l’agressivité, les tendances exploratoires ou la prise de risque. De nombreuses études montrent que la personnalité est soumise à la sélection naturelle et est reliée à certaines stratégies biodémographiques, telles que la dispersion ou le comportement anti-prédateur.Les liens entre la personnalité animale et les stratégies d’appariement et d’approvisionnement, deux composantes fondamentales de la vie des organismes, ont pourtant été négligés jusqu’ici. Nous nous sommes donc attachés au cours de cette thèse à déterminer l’influence de la personnalité sur certains comportements sexuels et alimentaires à l’aide d’un organisme modèle en écologie comportementale : le Diamant mandarin (Taeniopygia guttata). Puis, à l’inverse, nous avons souligné le rôle des sélections naturelle et sexuelle dans le maintien des variations de personnalité.Nos principaux résultats indiquent que certains traits de personnalité mesurés sont inter-corrélés au niveau de notre population captive d’oiseaux, définissant un syndrome comportemental. De plus, la personnalité prédit de manière différentielle le succès d’approvisionnement entre les contextes de compétition par exploitation et par interférence. Ainsi, les individus proactifs sont dominants lors d’épisodes de compétition par interférence mais souffrent d’un plus faible succès d’approvisionnement lors de jeux producteur-chapardeur. Ces résultats soulèvent la possibilité que la sélection naturelle favorise différentes personnalités dans différents contextes, offrant un mécanisme d’explication du maintien des variations intra-populationnelles de personnalité. De plus, ils suggèrent que la personnalité contraint l’optimalité des comportements à travers les situations. Enfin, dans un contexte de choix du partenaire, nous avons montré que la personnalité des femelles utilisées dans des tests de préférence par association influence les mesures de la sélectivité, des scores de préférence et de leur répétabilité.L’étude conjointe de la personnalité animale et des stratégies d’appariement et d’approvisionnement constitue ainsi une voie prometteuse dans l’explication du maintien des variations de personnalité par sélections naturelle et sexuelle, ainsi que dans l’étude de l’influence de la personnalité sur les stratégies biodémographiques des organismes en contextes alimentaire et sexuel / In evolutionary biology, phenotypic variation has for a long time been considered as the raw material on which natural selection acts. However, research on the consistency of behaviour led to the development of the animal personality concept during the 1990s. This concept was based on the characterization of traits such as neophobia, aggressiveness, exploratory tendencies and risk-taking behaviour. Since then, several studies have shown that personality can evolve through natural selection and is related to many life-history traits, such as dispersal or anti-predator behaviour.Pairing strategies and foraging strategies are two fundamental components of an organism’s life, but their relationships with personality have so far been neglected. In this thesis, we determined the extent to which personality influences sexual and feeding behaviour, using the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) as a model organism. Our work highlights the role of natural and sexual selection on the maintenance of personality variation.Some personality traits are related to each other within our sample, defining a behavioural syndrome. Moreover, personality predicted feeding success in competitive situations, but differently for scramble and interference competition. Proactive individuals were dominant in interference competition but had lower feeding success in producer-scrounger games. Interestingly, these results suggest that natural selection could favour different personalities depending on the context, perhaps explaining the maintenance of personality variation within populations. Moreover, personality could constrain behavioural optimality across situations. Finally, in a mate-choice context, we found that female personality influences selectivity, preference and its repeatability during spatial association tests.The joint study of personality and pairing and foraging strategies thus represents a promising avenue of research for understanding the maintenance of personality variation through natural and sexual selection. Moreover, personality can considerably influence some life-history traits in sexual and foraging contexts

We’re often warned that the internet will hasten the dating apocalypse. The internet (it is posited) is depriving us of the elusive in-person magic, and modern courtship is now little more than love at first byte. There remains uncertainty, however, about what the independent impact of the internet on the dating market has been. Similar to the internet, the telephone also changed the way we communicate, but its effect on the dating market was mostly complementary to the 'traditional' ways of meeting – i.e. calling your school crush at home. So the question remains: Is the effect of the internet on the dating market complementary (adding your school crush on Facebook) or substitutionary (matching with a stranger on Tinder)? Is the internet any better than the telephone? If all that was known about a random couple is that they met after 2015, I find that there is a 1 in 3 chance that the couple met as strangers online. Lesbian couples who met after 2015 have a 1 in 2 chance of meeting online, whereas gay male couples have a 63% probability of meeting online as strangers. This increased likelihood of same-sex couples meeting online (as opposed to heterosexual couples) confirms the thin-market hypothesis. The key value proposition of the internet is that it reduces search frictions in the dating market – effectively making it easier for individuals to seek out their optimal matching. I find that the internet is primarily displacing only ‘social circles’ as a dating venue – the probability of meeting partners in public or at institutions (like college) is unchanged. In other words – individuals are essentially replacing their friends with Wi-Fi when it comes to mate search.

Os humanos têm enfrentado a escolha entre preferências por traços femininos e masculinos, isto é, entre investimentos diretos (cuidado parental) e indiretos (qualidade genética) na reprodução, respectivamente, o que afeta a percepção de atratividade e indica qualidades biossociais. A FM é influenciada principalmente por hormônios reprodutivos, mas sua percepção é mediada por: 1) contextos biopsicossociais (autopercepção e percepção por terceiros), 2) múltiplos canais de informação (visual e vocal) e/ou 3) ameaças ambientais (patógenos e escassez de recursos). Estudos anteriores possuem limitações, como ausência de clareza quanto à associação entre autopercepção e percepção por terceiros da FM; incongruência nas informações das faces e vozes dos homens; e estudos focando principalmente nas preferências das mulheres por faces e vozes manipuladas digitalmente e usando um modelo de escolha forçada. Assim, examinamos: (a) possíveis associações entre percepções subjetivas (autopercepção e percepção por terceiros da FM e atratividade) e FM medida; (b) concordância na FM de mulheres e homens percebida por terceiros; e (c) influência de patógenos (PT) e escassez de recursos (ER) nas preferências pela FM no sexo oposto. Tiramos fotos faciais e gravamos vozes e danças de público-alvo de 41 mulheres e 38 homens e medimos o dimorfismo sexual da forma facial, a frequência fundamental vocal e o etograma das danças. Estes participantes também autoavaliaram sua FM e atratividade faciais, vocais e comportamentais. Posteriormente, 64 (43 mulheres) e 51 (28 mulheres) estudantes avaliaram respectivamente a FM e atratividade dos estímulos do público-alvo. Com as avaliações da FM escolhemos os cinco mais masculinos e os cinco mais femininos para cada estímulo, dentro de cada sexo. Finalmente, 370 estudantes (206 mulheres) leram um artigo de jornal da condição controle e um dos artigos da condição ambiental (PT ou ER); o artigo PT era sobre o Aedes aegypti, enquanto o artigo ER era sobre a crise econômica brasileira. Os participantes foram aleatoriamente designados para o contexto de relacionamento de curto ou longo prazo. Após cada artigo, os voluntários avaliaram a atratividade dos estímulos do público-alvo individualmente. Cada amostra conteve diferentes estudantes do estado de São Paulo com 18 a 35 anos. As percepções subjetivas das mulheres não refletiram as percepções dos terceiros nem as medidas objetivas. Todavia, a FM facial e 8 vocal delas se correlacionou, sugerindo concordância informacional. Diferentemente, as autoavaliações dos homens e as avaliações de terceiros quanto à FM e atratividade se correlacionaram. Ademais, o tom de voz mais masculino se associou com a FM autodeclarada e declarada por terceiros. Entretanto, as avaliações de terceiros quanto à FM facial e vocal não se relacionaram, indicando mensagens distintas. Além disso, no contexto de longo prazo, as mulheres preferiram um mosaico entre faces masculinas e vozes femininas após a ER. Os homens, por sua vez, preferiram vozes masculinas, sugerindo preferência por parceiros com maior acesso a recursos. Não houve efeito da condição PT no contexto de curto prazo, indicando a influência do modelo experimental. Finalmente, as danças não produziram qualquer efeito, sugerindo um desenvolvimento diferente das faces e vozes / During evolution, humans faced the trade-off between preferences for feminine and masculine traits which are connected to direct (parental care) and indirect (genetic quality) investments into reproduction, respectively. Therefore, femininity-masculinity (FM) affects perceived attractiveness and indicates biosocial qualities. Physiological and morphological FM are primarily influenced by reproductive hormones; however, its perception can be mediated by: 1) biopsychosocial contexts (e.g. self- and other-perception), 2) multiple channels of information (e.g. visual and vocal information), and 3) environmental threats (e.g. pathogens and resource scarcity). However, previous studies show limitations. Firstly, it is unclear if self- and other-rated FM are associated. Secondly, results suggest that womens faces and voices present concordant information about their FM; however, mixed results are found for men. Finally, studies mainly focus on womens preferences for digitally manipulated male faces and voices in a forced-choice design. Thus, we examined: (a) possible associations between subjective perceptions (i.e. self- and other-rated FM and attractiveness), and measured FM; (b) whether womens and mens FM is concordantly perceived by third-party raters; and (c) the influence of pathogen threat (PT) and resource threat (RT) on womens and mens preference for FM in the opposite sex. We took facial photos, and recorded voices and dances of a target sample of 41 women and 38 men and we measured sexual dimorphism of facial shape, vocal fundamental frequency, and ethogram of videos. These participants also self-rated their facial, vocal, and behavioral FM and attractiveness. Later, 64 (43 women) and 51 (28 women) students independently rated facial, vocal and behavioral FM and attractiveness of the target sample, respectively. Finally, 370 (206 women) students were primed with newspaper-like articles on either PT (Aedes aegypti, and its mosquito-borne diseases) or RT (Brazilian economic crisis), and compared to a control condition (lions poisoned in a Kenyan Reserve). Participants were randomly assigned either for a short- or long-term relationship. After each priming article, participants rated attractiveness of the five most masculine and the five most feminine stimuli of the opposite sex of the target sample in a standalone-rating design. Each sample was independent and comprised students, aged 18-35 years, from universities across the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In women, results showed that 10 subjective perceptions did not reflect perceptions of others or objective measures. However, womens facial and vocal FM correlated positively, suggesting concordant information about mate quality. In contrast, mens self-rated FM and attractiveness correlated with third-party ratings, and male voice pitch correlated with self- and other-rated FM. Nevertheless, other-ratings on mens FM did not correlated, indicating multiple messages. Finally, for long-term context, women preferred a mosaic of mens masculine faces and feminine voices after primed with RT condition. Men, however, preferred masculine female voices, suggesting a preference for partners with easier access to resources. There was no effect of PT condition in short-term context, indicating the influence of the study design. Finally, no effect was found for dances, suggesting a different development than faces and voices

<p>Studies of hybrid zones offer important insights into the process of speciation. Much of the knowledge to be gained is dependent on an accurate estimation of the strength of pre- and post-zygotic isolation between hybridizing taxa. My results demonstrate that hybridization can variously affect different components of fitness. In Ficedula flycatchers, late-breeding females may directly benefit from pairing with a heterospecific male by gaining access to superior territories. The hybrid offspring possess an immune system that is as equally well functioning as in the parental species (the collared, F. albicollis, and pied flycatcher, F. hypoleuca). However, I found that a severe reduction in fertility persists for at least three generations after the actual hybridization event. Combining all information about the reproductive success of hybridizing individuals and their descendents revealed that postzygotic isolation between flycatchers is very strong; hybridizing individuals leave almost no descendents. This thesis presents one of few comprehensive summaries of the selection for/against assortative mating in a natural hybrid zone. These findings suggest a central role for intrinsic postzygotic isolation as a reproductive barrier separating newly evolved bird species, and contrast previous suggestions that postmating isolation is the slowest of the reproductive barriers to evolve in birds.</p><p>Despite this strong selection against hybridization, pre-mating isolation is incomplete. Hybridization often results from females lacking conspecific partners, but appears to be also caused by errors in species recognition. Much of this error probably reflects the short period of time that pied flycatchers on Gotland and Öland have been in sympatry. Compared to collared flycatchers, pied flycatchers are poorer able to discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific song, and male pied flycatchers more often falsely signal their own identity through heterospecific song copying. However, despite colonising the study site from other sympatric populations and having very little gene flow from allopatry, collared flycatchers also possess traits (e.g. delayed plumage maturation) that increase their hybridization risk. Once pre-mating isolation is strong, the rarity of hybridization probably inhibits further selection against traits promoting interspecific mating, especially when such traits may be beneficial in other contexts. This thesis highlights complex interactions between factors affecting hybridization rate that would not be detected if such a study were not field-based. Furthermore, it showcases likely examples in nature of a number of theoretical objections to the evolution of pre-mating barriers between populations living in sympatry.</p>

Evidence for reduced reproductive success (RS) of wild spawning hatchery-reared fish invites serious consideration with regard to the detrimental effects on subsequent generations of wild populations. Mate choice was evaluated as a potential mechanism contributing to these observed RS differences using a previous pedigree of wild spawning hatchery-reared and wild origin coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Genetic variance at immune-relevant genes was used as ametric toexaminematechoice. Twoyears (2005 and2006)of threewild spawning mate pair classes were examined: wild x wild (W x W), hatchery x hatchery (H x H), and wild x hatchery (W x H). We tested for: (1) a departure from random expectations with regard to mate pair allelic diversity at immune-relevant markers, (2) a correlation between immune-relevant gene diversity and mate pair RS, and (3) distinguishable differences between mate choice strategies used by hatchery-reared and wild origin coho. Eight immune-relevant gene-linked microsatellite markers were used to evaluate mate choice; four linked to immune-relevant expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and four linked to the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). We found evidence for non-random mating between 2006 W x H mate pairs at BHMS429,an MHC-linked marker, and at SsalR016TKU,an immune-relevantEST-linked marker, which was identified as a vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein. Non-random mating was also evident between 2005 H x H pairs at SsalR015TKU,an immune-relevantEST-linkedmarker,thoughno putativegene was identified. All other pair classes did not display a significant mate choice signature. We found a significant correlation between mate pair RS and immune gene diversity among 2005 and 2006 W x W mate pairs as well as 2006 W x H mate pairs. Notably, H x H mate pair RS was not correlated to immune gene diversity in either year. Results suggest that mate choice and genetic compatibility may influence fitness of wild spawning coho. / Graduation date: 2013

Studies of hybrid zones offer important insights into the process of speciation. Much of the knowledge to be gained is dependent on an accurate estimation of the strength of pre- and post-zygotic isolation between hybridizing taxa. My results demonstrate that hybridization can variously affect different components of fitness. In Ficedula flycatchers, late-breeding females may directly benefit from pairing with a heterospecific male by gaining access to superior territories. The hybrid offspring possess an immune system that is as equally well functioning as in the parental species (the collared, F. albicollis, and pied flycatcher, F. hypoleuca). However, I found that a severe reduction in fertility persists for at least three generations after the actual hybridization event. Combining all information about the reproductive success of hybridizing individuals and their descendents revealed that postzygotic isolation between flycatchers is very strong; hybridizing individuals leave almost no descendents. This thesis presents one of few comprehensive summaries of the selection for/against assortative mating in a natural hybrid zone. These findings suggest a central role for intrinsic postzygotic isolation as a reproductive barrier separating newly evolved bird species, and contrast previous suggestions that postmating isolation is the slowest of the reproductive barriers to evolve in birds. Despite this strong selection against hybridization, pre-mating isolation is incomplete. Hybridization often results from females lacking conspecific partners, but appears to be also caused by errors in species recognition. Much of this error probably reflects the short period of time that pied flycatchers on Gotland and Öland have been in sympatry. Compared to collared flycatchers, pied flycatchers are poorer able to discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific song, and male pied flycatchers more often falsely signal their own identity through heterospecific song copying. However, despite colonising the study site from other sympatric populations and having very little gene flow from allopatry, collared flycatchers also possess traits (e.g. delayed plumage maturation) that increase their hybridization risk. Once pre-mating isolation is strong, the rarity of hybridization probably inhibits further selection against traits promoting interspecific mating, especially when such traits may be beneficial in other contexts. This thesis highlights complex interactions between factors affecting hybridization rate that would not be detected if such a study were not field-based. Furthermore, it showcases likely examples in nature of a number of theoretical objections to the evolution of pre-mating barriers between populations living in sympatry.

Much recent scholarship in Victorian studies has viewed sexuality as historically contingent and constructed primarily within the realm of discourse or social organization. In contrast, the following study details species-typical and universal aspects of human sexuality that must be adequately theorized if an accurate model of the ideological forces impacting Victorian sexuality is to be fashioned. After a short survey of previous scholarly projects that examine literature through the lens of biology—much of it marred by an obvious antipathy toward all attempts to discover the involvement of ideology in human behavior—this study presents a lengthy primer to the modern study of evolutionary psychology, behavioral genetics, and human sexuality. Because the use of science is still relatively rare in literary studies, the first chapters are designed both to convince the reader of the necessity of considering biology and evolution in examining human sexuality, as well as to provide the general educated scholar in our field with the basic framework of knowledge necessary to follow the remainder of the text. Chapter three follows with a detailed examination of the sources of the political resistance to biological and genetic models of human behavior within liberal arts and social science departments, and chapter four presents an evolutionary and biochemical model for the apprehension of art that locates the origins of culture within the evolutionarily-fashioned brains of individuals and attempts to recuperate the concept of aesthetic emotion and foreground the special nature of erotica in its ability to produce immediate neurochemical effects in the brains of its consumers. Finally, the study examines works of Victorian literature, especially My Secret Life, to demonstrate the deficiencies in constructionist and interactionist theories of human sexuality while detailing the new readings that emerge when one is aware of the biological basis of human mate selection mechanisms.

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Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This work was based in methods of classic descriptive statistics, methods of geostatistics and geoprocessing, in the identification of the size and the structure of the spatial variability of the physical and chemical attributes of the soil in area of Paraguay Tea forestry. The area of study, localized in the Tupian Farm, in the municipality of New Silver, RS, where were raised samples from January to March, 2005, embracing the Latosoil humic dystrophic soil. It was accomplished systematic sample with grid of regular spacing among the one hundred meter points, totalizing thirty-six sample points and the six hundred and thirty pairs of data, in an area of thirty-six hectares. Were collected samples of soil in situ for analysis in laboratory of the physic attributes of the bulky sand (BS), thin sand (TS) , silt (SIL), argil (ARG), soil density (SD), particle density (PD) and whole porosity (WP) and chemical attributes of argil, texture, pH (H2O), phosphorus (P), potassium(P), organic material (OM), aluminum (AL), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), exchangeable aluminum (H + Al), cations real exchange capacity (CTCe), cations exchange capacity to pH7 (CTCpH7) and saturation of basis (V%). The magnitudes of spatial variabilities were obtained by the variation of coefficient (CV%), with confidence level of 95%, through Microsoft Office Excel 2003 program, while the structure was identified by semivariogrames, in applications geostatistics establishing the necessary parameters to the krigagem . All models of semivariogrames presented zones of anisotropic influence, having its spatial variability the greatest in the perpendicular sense to these areas the declivity. The chemical attribute that presented greatest variability was phosphorus (P), with CV%=127,73, followed by the aluminum attribute (Al), com CV%= 99,23 and the attribute of least variability was the pH (H2O), com CV%=0,0013. To the physical attributes in the distribution of particles size (%), the attribute of greatest variability was bulky sand, with CV%=36,39, while the statistics made to the density attributes of soil, what present the greatest variability was the attribute of whole porosity, with CV%=95,49 and they least variability was verified was the argil, with CV%=12,32. IN the analysis of the structure of the spatial variability through geostatistics, the chemical attribute Ca presented IDE (%)=64,42 and the physical attribute ARG with IDE (%)=62,50, getting the greatest rates. To the accomplishment of agreement in the program VARIOWIN® 2.21- Software for Spatial Data Analysis , the method used was the visual, named the feeling , where the Spherical model was what better was adapted to the studied attributes, indicated in 55% of the variogrames. The Gaussian s model to the attribute of texture got the most overtaking with a (m)=421. A crusade validation with the usage of the program GSLIB90 Geostatistical Software Library pointed out accuracy in the agreement of the variographic models, having the attributes Ca, Al and ARG with R² (%) of 0,841; 0,705 and 0,760, respectively. The usual krigagem of the studied attributes permitted the detailed of the distribution of these through the maps of isolineas. / Este trabalho utilizou-se de métodos de estatística descritiva clássica, métodos de geoestatística e de geoprocessamento, na identificação do tamanho e da estrutura da variabilidade espacial de atributos físico-químicos do solo em área de florestamento de erva-mate. A área de estudo, localizada na Fazenda Tupi, no município de Nova Prata, RS, foi levantada amostras nos meses de janeiro a março de 2005, compreendendo a classe de solo Latossolo Húmico Distrófico Álico. Realizou-se amostragem sistemática com grid de espaçamento regular entre os pontos de 100 metros, totalizando 36 pontos amostrais e 630 pares de dados, em uma área de 36 hectares. Foram coletadas amostras de solo in situ para análise em laboratório dos atributos físicos areia grossa (AG), areia fina (AF), silte (SIL), argila (ARG), densidade de solo (DS), densidade de partícula (DP) e porosidade total (PoT) e atributos químicos argila, textura, pH (H2O), fósforo (P), potássio (K), matéria orgânica (M.O.), alumínio (Al), cálcio (Ca), magnésio (Mg), alumínio trocável (H+Al), capacidade de troca de cátions efetiva (CTCe), capacidade de troca de cátions à pH7 (CTCpH7) e saturação de bases (V%). As magnitudes das variabilidades espaciais foram obtidas pelo coeficiente de variação (CV%), com nível de confiança de 95,0%, através do programa Microsoft Office Excel 2003, enquanto que a estrutura foi identificada por meio de semivariogramas, em aplicativos geoestatísticos, definindose os parâmetros necessários para a krigagem. Todos os modelos de semivariogramas apresentaram zonas de influência anisotrópicas, tendo sua variabilidade espacial maior no sentido perpendicular a declividade destas áreas. O atributo químico que apresentou maior variabilidade foi o fósforo (P), com CV%=127,73, seguido do atributo alumínio (Al), com CV%=99,23 e o atributo de menor variabilidade, foi o pH(H2O), com CV%=13,79. Para os atributos físicos, na distribuição do tamanho de partículas (%), o atributo de maior variabilidade foi areia grossa, com CV%=36,39, enquanto a estatística realizada para os atributos densidade do solo, o que apresentou maior variabilidade foi o atributo porosidade total, com CV%=95,49 e a menor variabilidade foi constatada a argila, com CV%=12,32. Na análise de estrutura da variabilidade espacial através da geoestatística, o atributo químico Ca apresentou IDE(%)=64,42 e o atributo físico ARG com IDE(%)=62,50, obtendo os maiores índices. Para realização do ajuste no programa VARIOWIN® 2.21 Software for Spatial Data Analysis , o método utilizado foi o visual, denominado a sentimento , onde o modelo Esférico foi o que melhor se ajustou aos atributos estudados, indicado em 55% dos semivariogramas. O modelo Gaussiano para o atributo textura obteve o maior alcance com a(m)=421. A validação cruzada, com o uso do programa GSLIB 90 Geostatistical Software Library mostrou acuracidade no ajuste dos modelos variográficos, tendo os atributos Ca, Al e ARG com R²(%) de 0,841; 0,705 e 0,760, respectivamente. A krigagem ordinária dos atributos estudados permitiu o detalhamento da distribuição destas a partir dos mapas de isolinhas.