ArticleBehavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology
Smart mating: the cognitive ability of females influences their preference for male cognitive ability.
Article in Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- How does cognition determine an individual's fitness? A systematic review of the links between cognition, behaviour and fitness in non-human animals.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Selection Against Hybrids Maintains Genetic Divergence Between Populations of a Coastal Cleaner Fish Translocated Across a Genetic Break.Evolutionary applications · 2026Article
- Inhibitory control in teleost fish: a methodological and conceptual review.Animal cognition · 2024Review
- How sexual and natural selection interact and shape the evolution of nests and nesting behaviour in fishes.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Review
- Exploring the interplay between natural and intersexual selection on the evolution of a cognitive trait.Ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Relationships between male secondary sexual traits, physiological state and offspring viability in the three-spined stickleback.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Smart mating: the cognitive ability of females influences their preference for male cognitive ability.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- Effects of maternal age and environmental enrichment on learning ability and brain size.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cognitive abilities may be crucial for individuals to respond appropriately to their social and natural environment, thereby increasing fitness. However, the role of cognitive traits in sexual selection has received relatively little attention. Here, we studied 1) whether male secondary sexual traits (colour, courtship, and nest) reflect their cognitive ability, 2) whether females choose mates based on males' and their own cognitive abilities, and 3) how the interplay between secondary sexual traits and cognitive ability determines male attractiveness in the three-spined stickleback (
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.