Describe a common method to test for assortative mating based on armor phenotype?

• A. Conduct mate-choice experiments where individuals choose mates from phenotypically different groups, measuring preference strength.
• B. Crossbreeding with no phenotype measurement.
• C. Field survey of mate pairs with no preference measurement.
• D. Genome-wide association study.

Answer: (A)

Testing whether mate choice aligns with armor phenotype is best done by giving individuals a direct choice between potential mates that differ in armor phenotype and measuring how strongly they prefer one phenotype over the other. This mate-choice approach isolates armor phenotype as the variable and records explicit preferences, such as time spent with each potential mate, courtship effort, or which mate is selected and copulates. If individuals consistently prefer partners with the same armor phenotype, that shows positive assortative mating on armor; a preference for the other phenotype would indicate disassortative mating, while no consistent bias points to random mating with respect to armor.

Other methods don’t directly assess mate choice: crossbreeding without tracking phenotype, field surveys without measuring preferences, or genetic studies that map loci but don’t observe who individuals actually choose.