A puzzle of guppies:
All right. The word is out. (The cost of being different NATURE vol. 502 no. 7473 citing Mating Advantage for Rare Males in Wild Guppy Populations K.A. Hughes et al. doi:10.1038/nature12717 and Novelty Makes the Heart Grow Fonder J. S. McKinnon & M. R. Servedio doi:10.1038/nature12701) Female guppies prefer to mate with males that have rare color patterns. All right. It baffles me. How does that keep the gene pool tight?
Of course it’s no problem for the authors. They say it promotes genetic diversity. I know, I know. Balance in all things. You don’t want a gene pool that is too small just like you don’t want one that is too big. The mechanism works for guppies. Still, it does make me squirm.
There have been 64 visitors over the past month.