Gianna Amatucci, Nick Mulvey, Caitlin Welsh, & Cayleigh Shufelt (Stonehill College, BIO 323 Evolution, Fall 2019)
Predominantly residing in the tropics of South America, guppies are small and colorful freshwater fish. They are omnivorous animals, primarily consuming algae and brine shrimp. Unfortunately, guppies are preyed upon by a number of larger creatures, including birds, larger fish and mammals. While constantly having to avoid such predators, guppies are always in search of a suitable mate to spread their gene pools to future offspring. Alberto Corral-López and colleagues studied how predation pressure, in addition to cognitive ability and brain size, affected sexual behavior and sexual selection in guppies. The actions of both large-brained and small-brained female and male guppies were observed by Corral-López in order to study this phenomenon.
