Figure 2

Combination of female preference tests for males in Salamandra salamandra. (a) Six different female choice trial combinations (A-F) were performed. In each combination, tested animals were characterized by their habitat adaptation to streams (prefix s) or to ponds (prefix p), and by their origin of the western (W) or eastern (E) post-glacial recolonization lineage. In each combination, a female could choose between a male from its own population and a male from a foreign population. The amount of time spent by a female with each male is shown, expressed as percent of total time spent in each of the two peripheral areas. Bars represent means; error bars represent standard error. One-factorial ANOVA revealed significant (p < 0.05) effects of different combinations. (b) Specific combinations (C1-C4) of choice trials (A-F in (a)) that were tested against each other to determine whether the habitat component (i.e., habitat adaptation to streams or ponds) or the genetic distance component (i.e., the neutral genetic divergence inferred from microsatellite differentiation) influenced female mate preference with the null hypothesis that females spent the same amount of time with their own male. In each combination, either the habitat or the genetic distance component was kept constant. For further details see section Data analysis of female preference tests.