Journal Article

QInfoMating: sexual selection and assortative mating estimation software

Carvajal-Rodríguez, A.

2025

Overview

Background Sexual selection theory is a multifaceted area of evolutionary research that has profound implications across various disciplines, including population genetics, evolutionary ecology, animal behavior, sociology, and psychology. It explores the mechanisms by which certain traits and behaviors evolve due to mate choice and competition within a species. In the context of this theory, the Jeffreys divergence measure, also known as population stability index, plays a key role in quantifying the information obtained when a deviation from random mating occurs for both discrete and continuous data. Despite the critical importance of understanding mating patterns in the context of sexual selection, there is currently no software available that can perform model selection and multimodel inference with quantitative mating data to test hypotheses about the dynamics underlying observed mating patterns. Recognizing this gap, I have developed QInfoMating which provides a comprehensive solution for analyzing and interpreting mating data within the framework of sexual selection theory. Results The program QInfoMating incorporates a user-friendly interface for performing statistical tests, best-fit model selection, and parameter estimation using multimodel inference for both discrete and continuous mating data. A use case is presented with real data of the species Echinolittorina malaccana . Conclusions The application of information theory, model selection, and parameter estimation using multimodel inference are presented as powerful tools for the analysis of mating data, whether quantitative or categorical. The QInfoMating program is a tool designed to perform this type of analysis.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Analysis / Animal behavior / Animal reproduction / Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography / Animals / Assortative mating / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Competition / Courtship of animals / Echinolittorina malaccana / Ecology / Entomology / Evolution / Evolutionary Biology / Female / Females / Genetics / Genetics and Population Dynamics / Inference / Information theory / Jeffreys divergence / Life Sciences / Male / Males / Mate selection / Mating / Mating Preference, Animal / Methods / Models, Genetic / Natural selection / Observations / Parameter estimation / Pattern recognition / Polymorphism / Population genetics / Population stability / Population stability index / Sexual Behavior, Animal / Sexual Selection / Software / Statistical analysis / Statistical models / Statistical tests / Statistics / Technology application / User interface