Personality affects female mate choice: frogs displaying more consistent bold behaviors are choosier

Abstract

Mate choice is an important cause of natural and sexual selection and drives the evolution and elaboration of male ornaments. Yet mate choice decisions are often neither consistent nor uniform, and a range of factors have been identified to influence variation between and within individuals. A potential source of variation influencing preferences and/or choosiness is animal personality, that is, repeatable among-individual differences in behaviors. Not only may individuals differ in average personality phenotype but also vary in how consistently they display said personality. Distinguishing between personality and consistency is important because both aspects are potentially naturally selected traits that may yet influence how sexually selected ornaments are evaluated. Here, we use a predator evasion assay to test whether there is variation in boldness among female gray treefrogs (Hyla versicolor), and then examine whether personality traits (spectrum of shy to bold) are correlated with choosiness for longer duration calls. We document substantial and repeatable between-individual variation in boldness, suggesting the presence of animal personality. Results also reveal that the consistency with which females expressed boldness is independent from average personality phenotype and that it is correlated with choosiness: more consistently bold females were choosier.