scholarly journals Sex differences in developmental plasticity and canalization shape population divergence in mate preferences

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1797) ◽  
pp. 20141636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik I. Svensson ◽  
Anna Runemark ◽  
Machteld N. Verzijden ◽  
Maren Wellenreuther
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Developmental Plasticity ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
Population Divergence ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Local Species ◽  
Selection For

Sexual selection of high-quality mates can conflict with species recognition if traits that govern intraspecific mate preferences also influence interspecific recognition. This conflict might be resolved by developmental plasticity and learned mate preferences, which could drive preference divergence in populations that differ in local species composition. We integrate field and laboratory experiments on two calopterygid damselfly species with population genetic data to investigate how sex differences in developmental plasticity affect population divergence in the face of gene flow. Whereas male species recognition is fixed at emergence, females instead learn to recognize heterospecifics. Females are therefore more plastic in their mate preferences than males. We suggest that this results from sex differences in the balance between sexual selection for high-quality mates and selection for species recognition. As a result of these sex differences, females develop more pronounced population divergence in their mate preferences compared with males. Local ecological community context and presence of heterospecifics in combination with sex differences in plasticity and canalization therefore shape population divergence in mate preferences. As ongoing environmental change and habitat fragmentation bring formerly allopatric species into secondary contact, developmental plasticity of mate preferences in either or both sexes might facilitate coexistence and prevent local species extinction.

scholarly journals Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1729) ◽  
pp. 826-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Lees ◽  
Robert L. Nudds ◽  
Lars P. Folkow ◽  
Karl-Arne Stokkan ◽  
Jonathan R. Codd
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Locomotor System ◽  
Terrestrial Locomotion ◽  
Female Data ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Lagopus Muta ◽  
The Cost

Little is known regarding the physiological consequences of the behavioural and morphological differences that result from sexual selection in birds. Male and female Svalbard rock ptarmigans ( Lagopus muta hyperborea ) exhibit distinctive behavioural differences during the breeding season. In particular, males continuously compete for and defend territories in order to breed successfully, placing large demands on their locomotor system. Here, we demonstrate that male birds have improved locomotor performance compared with females, showing both a lower cost of locomotion (CoL) and a higher top speed. We propose that the observed sex differences in locomotor capability may be due to sexual selection for improved male performance. While the mechanisms underlying these energetic differences are unclear, future studies should be wary when pooling male and female data.

scholarly journals Sexual selection drives the evolution of wing interference patterns

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
MF Hawkes ◽  
E Duffy ◽  
R Joag ◽  
A Skeats ◽  
J Radwan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Digital Imaging ◽  
Colour Vision ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Sexual Attractiveness ◽  
Courtship Display ◽  
Structural Coloration ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Selection For ◽  
First Time

AbstractThe seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display dramatic structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Additionally, existing research has been restricted by analysing WIPs without due consideration of how they are actually perceived by the viewers’ colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model ofDrosophilavision to compare WIPs of male and femaleDrosophila simulansfrom replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show for the first time that WIPs modelled inDrosophilavision evolve in response to sexual selection, and confirm that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well describedDrosophilacourtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.

scholarly journals Sexual selection drives the evolution of male wing interference patterns

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1903) ◽  
pp. 20182850 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. F. Hawkes ◽  
E. Duffy ◽  
R. Joag ◽  
A. Skeats ◽  
J. Radwan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Digital Imaging ◽  
Colour Vision ◽  
Species Recognition ◽  
Sexual Attractiveness ◽  
Courtship Display ◽  
Structural Coloration ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Male Wing ◽  
Selection For

The seemingly transparent wings of many insects have recently been found to display unexpected structural coloration. These structural colours (wing interference patterns: WIPs) may be involved in species recognition and mate choice, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes that shape them. Furthermore, to date investigations of WIPs have not fully considered how they are actually perceived by the viewers' colour vision. Here, we use multispectral digital imaging and a model of Drosophila vision to compare WIPs of male and female Drosophila simulans from replicate populations forced to evolve with or without sexual selection for 68 generations. We show that WIPs modelled in Drosophila vision evolve in response to sexual selection and provide evidence that WIPs correlate with male sexual attractiveness. These findings add a new element to the otherwise well-described Drosophila courtship display and confirm that wing colours evolve through sexual selection.

scholarly journals Divergent male and female mate preferences do not explain incipient speciation between lizard lineages

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 485-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire A McLean ◽  
Richard A Bartle ◽  
Caroline M Dong ◽  
Katrina J Rankin ◽  
Devi Stuart-Fox
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Secondary Contact ◽  
Sexual Signals ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
Behavioral Mechanisms ◽  
Behavioral Barriers

Abstract Diversification in sexual signals is often taken as evidence for the importance of sexual selection in speciation. However, in order for sexual selection to generate reproductive isolation between populations, both signals and mate preferences must diverge together. Furthermore, assortative mating may result from multiple behavioral mechanisms, including female mate preferences, male mate preferences, and male–male competition; yet their relative contributions are rarely evaluated. Here, we explored the role of mate preferences and male competitive ability as potential barriers to gene flow between 2 divergent lineages of the tawny dragon lizard, Ctenophorus decresii, which differ in male throat coloration. We found stronger behavioral barriers to pairings between southern lineage males and northern lineage females than between northern males and southern females, indicating incomplete and asymmetric behavioral isolating barriers. These results were driven by both male and female mate preferences rather than lineage differences in male competitive ability. Intrasexual selection is therefore unlikely to drive the outcome of secondary contact in C. decresii, despite its widely acknowledged importance in lizards. Our results are consistent with the emerging view that although both male and female mate preferences can diverge alongside sexual signals, speciation is rarely driven by divergent sexual selection alone.

scholarly journals Social transmission of face preferences among humans

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1611) ◽  
pp. 899-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict C Jones ◽  
Lisa M DeBruine ◽  
Anthony C Little ◽  
Robert P Burriss ◽  
David R Feinberg
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Social Transmission ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Mate Choice Copying ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Women’S Preferences

Previous studies demonstrating mate choice copying effects among females in non-human species have led many researchers to propose that social transmission of mate preferences may influence sexual selection for male traits. Although it has been suggested that social transmission may also influence mate preferences in humans, there is little empirical support for such effects. Here, we show that observing other women with smiling (i.e. positive) expressions looking at male faces increased women's preferences for those men to a greater extent than did observing women with neutral (i.e. relatively negative) expressions looking at male faces. By contrast, the reverse was true for male participants (i.e. observing women with neutral expressions looking at male faces increased male participant's preferences for those men to a greater extent than did observing women smiling at male faces). This latter finding suggests that within-sex competition promotes negative attitudes among men towards other men who are the target of positive social interest from women. Our findings demonstrate that social transmission of face preferences influences judgments of men's attractiveness, potentially demonstrating a mechanism for social transmission of mate preferences.

scholarly journals Does meiotic drive alter male mate preference?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Ronan Finnegan ◽  
Leslie Nitsche ◽  
Matteo Mondani ◽  
M. Florencia Camus ◽  
Kevin Fowler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mate Preference ◽  
Selfish Genetic Element ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Organismal Fitness

AbstractMale mate preferences have been demonstrated across a range of species, including the Malaysian stalk-eyed fly, Teleopsis dalmanni. This species is subject to SR, an X-linked male meiotic driver, that causes the dysfunction of Y-sperm and the production all female broods. SR is associated with a low frequency inversion spanning most of the X chromosome that causes reduced organismal fitness. While there has been work considering female avoidance of meiotic drive males, the mating decisions of drive-bearing males have not been considered previously. As drive males are of lower genetic quality they may be less able to bear the cost of choice or may experience weaker selection for its maintenance if they are avoided by females. We investigated preference of drive males using binary choice trials. We confirmed that males prefer to mate with large females (indicative of greater fecundity) but found no evidence that the strength of male mate preference differs between drive and standard males. This suggests that the cost of choice does not restrict male reference among drive males. In a further experiment, we found that large eyespan males showed strong preference whereas small eyespan males showed no preference. This is likely to weaken mate preference in drive males, as on average they have reduced eyespan compared to standard males. In this respect, drive males are subject to and exert weak sexual selection.Lay summaryWe studied male mate preference in stalk-eyed flies. This species suffers from meiotic drive, a selfish genetic element that causes a reduction in sperm production and organismal fitness. We predicted that males with meiotic drive would show weak mate preference. Males preferred to mate with large females, but there was no difference in the strength of preference between drive and non-drive males. Males with larger eyespan showed stronger mate preference. Meiotic drive males usually have reduced eyespan so on average they exert weaker sexual selection on females, but this is mediated by eyespan, not genotype per se.

scholarly journals The physical environment mediates male harm and its effect on selection in females

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1858) ◽  
pp. 20170424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Yun ◽  
Patrick J. Chen ◽  
Amardeep Singh ◽  
Aneil F. Agrawal ◽  
Howard D. Rundle
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Male Choice ◽  
Female Fitness ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences ◽  
Natural And Sexual Selection

Recent experiments indicate that male preferential harassment of high-quality females reduces the variance in female fitness, thereby weakening natural selection through females and hampering adaptation and purging. We propose that this phenomenon, which results from a combination of male choice and male-induced harm, should be mediated by the physical environment in which intersexual interactions occur. Using Drosophila melanogaster , we examined intersexual interactions in small and simple (standard fly vials) versus slightly more realistic (small cages with spatial structure) environments. We show that in these more realistic environments, sexual interactions are less frequent, are no longer biased towards high-quality females, and that overall male harm is reduced. Next, we examine the selective advantage of high- over low-quality females while manipulating the opportunity for male choice. Male choice weakens the viability advantage of high-quality females in the simple environment, consistent with previous work, but strengthens selection on females in the more realistic environment. Laboratory studies in simple environments have strongly shaped our understanding of sexual conflict but may provide biased insight. Our results suggest that the physical environment plays a key role in the evolutionary consequences of sexual interactions and ultimately the alignment of natural and sexual selection.

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