想要征服一個女人的心,，先要征服她的胃——至少對劍尾脂鯉來說是這樣的,。
這項日前在線發(fā)表于《當(dāng)代生物學(xué)》（Current Biology)的發(fā)現(xiàn),，是第一個已知的所有物種中有雄性朝著類似食物的方向進化,，以更好地贏取和異性交配機會的例子,。
當(dāng)這種熱帶淡水魚的雄性想要交配時,，它會在心儀的約會對象面前豎起來并擺動一種“裝飾物”。這種類似旗幟的附屬物,，通常會隱藏在雄性劍尾脂鯉的身體附近,。
這些裝飾物的形狀和大小各不相同,。從上世紀(jì)60年代開始,，研究人員就懷疑其形狀能反映出雌性劍尾脂鯉所喜歡的食物,。
現(xiàn)在，一個研究小組通過研究不同群落中雌性劍尾脂鯉的“食譜”和雄性魚的裝飾物變化情況,，證實了上述推測。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，類似螞蟻的裝飾物,，在主要以掉進溪流和河水中的螞蟻為生的雌性劍尾脂鯉中深受歡迎,；橢圓形的蛋狀裝飾物,，則在偏好以甲蟲和甲蟲幼蟲為食的雌性魚中非常流行。
科學(xué)家們甚至能夠在實驗室中據(jù)此復(fù)制出以食物為基礎(chǔ)的吸引物,。這些生活在水族箱中的雌性劍尾脂鯉一生都以片狀食品為食,。但是，當(dāng)研究人員將螞蟻加進它們的“食譜”中并連續(xù)喂養(yǎng)十天之后,，這些雌性魚對類似螞蟻的裝飾物的喜愛程度超過了甲蟲狀裝飾物,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.05.050
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Diversification of a Food-Mimicking Male Ornament via Sensory Drive
Niclas Kolm, Mirjam Amcoff, Richard P. Mann, G?ran Arnqvist
The evolutionary divergence of sexual signals is often important during the formation of new animal species, but our understanding of the origin of signal diversity is limited [1,2]. Sensory drive, the optimization of communication signal efficiency through matching to the local environment, has been highlighted as a potential promoter of diversification and speciation [3]. The swordtail characin (Corynopoma riisei) is a tropical fish in which males display a flag-like ornament that elicits female foraging behavior during courtship. We show that the shape of the male ornament covaries with female diet across natural populations. More specifically, natural populations in which the female diet is more dominated by ants exhibit male ornaments more similar to the shape of an ant. Feeding experiments confirm that females habituated to a diet of ants prefer to bite at male ornaments from populations with a diet more dominated by ants. Our results show that the male ornament functions as a fishing lure that is diversifying in shape to match local variation in female search images employed during foraging. This direct link between variation in female feeding ecology and the evolutionary diversification of male sexual ornaments suggests that sensory drive may be a common engine of signal divergence.
