The effect of developmental temperature and inbreeding on sexual and reproductive traits of female guppies
Clicks: 3
ID: 326864
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This
article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score —
reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
Reader Engagement
Emerging Content
0.6
/100
3 views
2 readers
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
EmergingRanked #53 of 53 articles by views in behavioral ecology
Most read
Least read
Bar heights use a square-root scale.
Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet mintedCreate a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.
5
SUSD
one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Abstract Global temperatures are rising and inbreeding is increasingly common in wild populations as habitats become fragmented and population sizes shrink. There is extensive research on how inbreeding or elevated temperatures affect animal performance, but little is known about how these two factors interact to affect sexually selected behavior and reproductive traits. We ran a 2x2 experiment to investigate how developmental temperature (26°C or 30°C) and inbreeding (outbreeding or full-sibling mating) affect female guppies (Poecilia reticulata). We reciprocally cross-bred full-siblings to create inbred and outbred females and measured their sexual attractiveness (via male mate choice tests), fecundity, egg diameter and total egg mass (N = 120 females). Female attractiveness was affected by an interaction between breeding status and temperature. For females reared at 26°C, males preferred outbred females over inbred females and over both inbred and outbred females raised at 30°C. In contrast, for females reared at 30°C, males did not prefer outbred females. Inbreeding and elevated developmental temperature independently reduced egg diameter, indicating that both factors reduce offspring provisioning. Neither inbreeding nor developmental temperature affected fecundity or total egg mass. However, larger and older females produced more eggs, and larger females had heavier clutches. Our results suggest that the fitness effect of inbreeding for females depends on developmental temperature. Climate warming may intensify these genotype–environment interactions thereby increasing the costs of inbreeding. The efficacy of sexual selection in removing deleterious recessive alleles could be reduced if males are less likely to avoid inbred females as temperatures rise.
| Reference Key |
openalex_W7204487873
Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using
SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
|
|---|---|
| Authors | Md Mahmud-Al-Hasan, Michael D. Jennions, Megan L. Head |
| Journal | behavioral ecology |
| Year | 2026 |
| DOI |
10.1093/beheco/arag101
|
| URL | |
| Keywords | Keywords not found |
Citations
No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.