On the evolution of female mating preferences as pleiotropic byproducts ofadaptive evolution

Although evidence is mounting that female mating preferences evolve at leas t in part as incidental (pleiotropic) consequences of alleles favored by na tural selection, it is less clear how such preferences can evolve when they are initially maladaptive, as by delaying reproduction. I extend a previou s model by Tomlinson and O'Donald (1996) to investigate how dominance, sex- linkage, and sex-limitation affect the evolution of a costly new female pre ference. I find that recessivity of the new female preference can allow it to spread as a pleiotropic byproduct of adaptive evolution even when the no vel preference is initially extremely detrimental. Further, three predictio ns of this model are satisfied by empirical data on the genetics of female mating preferences in Drosophila. Taken together, these findings suggest th at incidental association of novel female preferences with alleles under se lection could be a potent force in the origin and evolution of novel female mating preferences.