Fluctuating asymmetry as an index of fitness: Causality or statistical artifact?

Oikos

Volumn 86, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 357-365

  Nachman, Gösta ^a   Heller, Knud Erik ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN   (Denmark)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DATA QUALITY; FITNESS; FLUCTUATING ASYMMETRY; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS;

EID: 0032858673     PISSN: 00301299     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3546452     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. Balmford, A. and Thomas, A. 1992. Swallowing ornamental asymmetry. Nature 359: 487.
2. Balmford, A., Jones, I. L. and Thomas, A. L. R. 1993. On avian asymmetry: evidence of natural selection for symmetrical tails and wings in birds. - Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 252: 245-251.
3. Dunn, O. J. and Clark, V. A. 1987. Analysis of variance and regression. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
4. Evans, M. R., Martins, T. L. F. and Haley, M. P. 1995. Interand intra-sexual patterns of fluctuating asymmetry in the red-billed streamertail: should symmetry always increase with ornament size? - Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 37: 15-23.
5. Hamilton, W. D. and Zuk, M. 1982. Heritable true fitness and bright birds: a role for parasites? - Science 218: 384-387.
6. Hunt, J. and Simmons, L. W. 1997. Patterns of fluctuating asymmetry in beetle horns: an experimental examination of the honest signalling hypothesis. - Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 41: 109-1147
7. Leung, B. and Forbes, M. R. 1997. Fluctuating asymmetry in relation to indices of quality and fitness in the damselfly, Enallagma ebrium. - Oecologia 110: 472-477.
8. Ludwig, W. 1932. Das Rechts-Links Problem im Tierreich und beim Menschen. - Springer, Berlin.
9. Malyon, C. and Healy, S. 1994. Fluctuating asymmetry in antlers of fallow deer, Dama dama, indicates dominance. -Anim. Behav. 48: 248-250.
10. Manning, J. T. and Ockenden, L. 1994. Fluctuating asymmetry in racehorses. - Nature 370: 185-186.
11. Manning, J. T., Scutt, D., Whitehouse, G. H. and Leinster, S. J. 1997. Breast asymmetry and phenotypic quality in women. - Evol. Human Behav. 18: 223-236.
12. McLachlan, A. and Cant, M. 1995. Small males are more symmetrical: mating success in the midge Chironomus plumosus L. (Diptera: Chironomidae). Anim. Behav. 50: 841-846.
13. Mitchell-Olds, T. and Shaw, R. G. 1987. Regression analysis of natural selection: statistical inference and biological interpretation. - Evolution 41: 1149-1161.
14. Møller, A. P. 1990. Fluctuating asymmetry in male sexual ornaments may reliably reveal male quality. - Anim. Behav. 40: 1185-1187.
15. Møller, A. P. 1991. Sexual selection in the monogamous barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). I. Determinants of tail ornament size. - Evolution 45: 1823-1836.
16. Moller. A. P. 1992a. Female swallow preference for symmetrical male sexual ornaments. - Nature 357: 238-240.
17. Möller, A. P. 1992b. Parasites differentially increase the degree of fluctuating asymmetry in secondary sexual characters. -J. Evol. Biol. 5: 691-699.
18. Møller, A. P. 1993a. Patterns of fluctuating asymmetry in sexual ornaments predict female choice. J. Evol. Biol. 6: 481-491.
19. Möller, A. P. 1993b. Female preference for apparently symmetrical male sexual ornaments in the barn swallow Hirundo rustica. - Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 32: 371-376.
20. Møller, A. P. 1994. Sexual selection in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica). IV. Patterns of fluctuating asymmetry and selection against asymmetry. - Evolution 48: 658-670.
21. Møller, A. P. 1995a. Bumblebee preference for symmetrical flowers. Selection against asymmetry. - Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 2288-2292.
22. Møller, A. P. 1995b. Developmental stability and ideal despotic distribution of blackbirds in a patchy environment. - Oikos 72: 228-234.
23. Møller, A. P. 1995c. Leaf-mining insects and fluctuating asymmetry in elm Ulmus glabra leaves. - J. Anim. Ecol. 64: 697-707.
24. Møller, A. P. 1996. Parasitism and developmental instability of hosts: a review. Oikos 77: 189-196.
25. Møller, A. P. and Pomiankowski, A. 1993. Fluctuating asymmetry and sexual selection. - Genetica 89: 267-279.
26. Møller, A. P. and Swaddle, J. P. 1997. Asymmetry, developmental stability, and evolution. - Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
27. Møller, A. P. and de Lope, F. 1998. Herbivory affects developmental instability of stone oak, Quercus rotundifolia. -Oikos 82: 246-252.
28. Møller, A. P., Sanotra, G. S. and Vestergaard, K. S. 1995. Developmental stability in relation to population density and breed of chickens Gallus gallus. - Poultry Sci. 74: 1761-1771.
29. Moodie, G. R. and Moodie, P. F. 1996. Do asymmetric sticklebacks make better fathers? Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 263: 535-539.
30. Oakes, E. J. and Barnard, P. 1994. Fluctuating asymmetry and male choice in paradise whydahs, Vidua paradisaea: an experimental manipulation. - Anim. Behav. 48: 937-943.
31. Palmer, A. R. 1994. Fluctuating asymmetry analyses: a primer. - In: Markow, T. A. (ed.). Developmental instability: its origins and evolutionary implications. Klüwer, Dordrecht, pp. 335-364.
32. Palmer, A. R. and Strobeck, C. 1986. Fluctuating asymmetry: measurement, analysis, pattern. - Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 17: 391-421.
33. Rohde, P. A., Amundsen, T. and Fiske, P. 1997. Fluctuating asymmetry, mate choice and experimental designs. Anim. Behav. 54: 1030-1033.
34. Rowe, L., Repasky, R. and Palmer, A. R. 1997. Size dependent asymmetry: fluctuating asymmetry versus antisymmetry and its relevance to condition-dependent signalling. Evolution 51: 1401-1408.
35. SAS Institute, 1989a. SAS/STAT User's Guide, Vol. 2, Vers. 6. 4th ed. SAS Institute, Cary, NC.
36. SAS Institute, 1989b. SAS/STAT User's Guide, Vol. 1. Vers. 6, 4th ed. - SAS Institute, Cary, NC.
37. Siegel, S. and Castellan, N. J. 1988. Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.
38. Simons, A. M. and Johnston, M. O. 1997. Developmental instability as a bet-hedging strategy. - Oikos 80: 401-406.
39. Swaddle, J. P., Witter, M. S. and Cuthill, I. C. 1994. The analysis of fluctuating asymmetry. - Anim. Behav. 48: 986-989.
40. Thomas, A. L. R. and Balmford, A. 1995. How natural selection shapes birds' tails. Am. Nat. 146: 848-868.
41. Thomas, A. L. R. and Rowe, L. 1997. Experimental tests on tail elongation and sexual selection in swallows (Hirundo rustica) do not affect the tail streamer and cannot test its function. - Behav. Ecol. 8: 580-581.
42. Thornhill, R., Gangestad, S. W. and Comer, R. 1995. Human female orgasm and mate fluctuating asymmetry. - Anim. Behav. 50: 1601-1615.