Individual exploration types are based on the cognitive speed-accuracy trade-off, which suggests that a higher speed of information acquisition is done by sacrificing information quality. In a mating context, fast exploration could thus increase the probability of finding mates at the cost of mating with kin or suboptimal partners. We tested this hypothesis by studying male mate choice patterns in a species with a scramble competition mating system. We used genotyping, localization by radio-collar, trapping, and repeated exploration measures from a long-term study on wild Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus). We predicted that, according to the speed-accuracy trade-off hypothesis, slower-thorough explorers should be choosier than faster-superficial ones, and thus avoid inbreeding. We found that slower males reproduced more often with less related females, but only on one site where variance in relatedness and female density were high. Males showed no preference for their mates’ exploration type. Our results suggest that superficial exploration decreases male choosiness and increases the risk of inbreeding, but only under decreased mate search costs due to high variance in relatedness among mates (at high density). Our findings reveal exploration-related, among-individual variance in inbreeding, highlighting the complexity of mate choice, and showing that many aspects of an individual’s life contribute to animal decision-making.

中文翻译：

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探索和社会环境影响小型哺乳动物的近亲繁殖避免

个体探索类型基于认知速度与准确性的权衡，这表明更高的信息获取速度是通过牺牲信息质量来实现的。因此，在交配环境中，快速探索可能会增加找到配偶的可能性，但代价是与亲属或次优伴侣交配。我们通过研究具有争夺竞争交配系统的物种的雄性择偶模式来检验这一假设。我们对野生东方花栗鼠（Tamias striatus）进行了长期研究，采用了基因分型、无线电项圈定位、诱捕和重复探索措施。我们预测，根据速度与准确度权衡假设，速度较慢的彻底探索者应该比速度较快的肤浅探索者更加挑剔，从而避免近亲繁殖。我们发现，速度较慢的雄性与相关性较低的雌性繁殖的频率更高，但仅限于相关性和雌性密度差异较高的一个地点。雄性对伴侣的探索类型没有表现出偏好。我们的研究结果表明，浅层探索会降低雄性的选择性并增加近亲繁殖的风险，但仅在由于配偶之间的相关性差异较大（高密度）而降低配偶搜索成本的情况下。我们的研究结果揭示了近亲繁殖中与探索相关的个体间差异，强调了择偶的复杂性，并表明个体生活的许多方面都有助于动物的决策。