Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2021View details →

Figure 3 in Mating and ejaculate allocation pattern in the kelp crab Taliepus dentatus (Decapoda: Epialtidae)

Figure 3. Regression lines of the log 10 chela height (CH) vs. log 10 carapace length (CL) for adolescent (y = 1.414 – 1.386x) and adult males (y = 1.842 – 2.240x) in Taliepus dentatus. Adolescent and adult males are indicated by dots and triangles, respectively (R v 3.4).

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2022View details →

A re-analysis of an existing Drosophila melanogaster dataset reveals a new set of genes involved in post-mating response

The figures and tables presented here are part of a manuscript submitted for publication by Chloe J. Bennett and Rodolfo Aramayo entitled: "A re-Analysis of an existing Drosophila melanogaster dataset reveals a new set of genes involved in post-mating response" Abstract RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) is a commonly used method to identify changes in gene expression between two conditions. The analysis of RNA-seq output is complicated, with the possibility of getting different results from the same raw data. We developed and deployed four parallel pipelines to reanalyze an existing dataset of two female Drosophila melanogaster tissue types before and after mating. The Drosophila post-mating response (PMR) is a well-characterized suite of changes that occur after mating, accompanied by a flux in gene expression. In comparing our study with the previous analysis of this dataset, we find our results to be more stringent, though we do identify a number of significant genes not found before. We also found variation among our own separate experiments, with gene-to-transcript isoform number and index building playing important roles in outcome. Finally, we identified a set of genes found by our pipeline that were not identified by the previous study and proposed potential roles for these genes in post-mating biology. Together, this work presents a critique of current RNA-seq analysis techniques and proposes multiple workflow adjustments that can increase the sensitivity, specificity, and stringency of differential gene expression studies.

opencc-zeroApr 2024View details →

Data from: Variation in nuptial colour in relation to sex, individual quality and mating success in the sex-role reversed red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius)

In most bird species, males are more ornamented and compete for females, who contribute more to offspring care. In a minority of species this pattern is reversed, with more colourful females competing for mates and males taking care of parental duties. In such sex-role reversed species, the links between colourful ornamentation, individual quality and mating success are not well established. The red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) is a colourful sex-role reversed migratory shorebird with regular social polyandry, in which both sexes show considerable colour variation. Here, we describe sex differences in colour and quantify associations between colour variation and indicators of quality and mating success in both sexes. Using a large sample of photos collected across three consecutive years on the Arctic breeding grounds, we scored colour variation for four body parts (bill, crown, cheek and breast), and analysed scores separately and combined into an overall colour score. Females were more colourful and larger than males, and individuals could be unambiguously sexed by crown colour. Nevertheless, there was substantial variation within sexes and some overlap between males and females in bill, cheek, breast, and overall colour scores. Assortative mating by colour was only found for the bill. Colour variation did not correlate with plasma testosterone levels, except for male cheek colour. Females in better body condition had yellower bills and higher overall colour scores, while early-arriving birds had higher breast and overall scores. Phalaropes that bred locally were heavier than those that did not, but they did not have higher colour scores. Female colour variation did not predict the probability of local social polyandry nor variation in clutch size, and male coloration did not predict the probability of nest predation. In conclusion, phalarope colour variation showed modest correlations with individual quality and was unrelated to variation in local reproductive success.

Figure 3 in Observations on the mating behaviour and related copulatory anatomy of Alaena margaritacea Eltringham, 1929 (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

Figure 3 – Mating pair, female on top and male below: A – red arrow indicates tip of female abdomen; B – images showing the titled angle of copulation: C – close-up of Fig. 3B.

Figure 1 in Observations on the mating behaviour and related copulatory anatomy of Alaena margaritacea Eltringham, 1929 (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

Figure 1 – Google Earth polygon (shaded area) of TL breeding area of Alaena margaritacea; an area of about 650 m2.

Figure 5 in Observations on the mating behaviour and related copulatory anatomy of Alaena margaritacea Eltringham, 1929 (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

Figure 5 – The red arrow points to the shiny black button ventrally at a distance away from the posterior tip of a living female abdomen.

Figure 6 in Observations on the mating behaviour and related copulatory anatomy of Alaena margaritacea Eltringham, 1929 (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

Figure 6 – SEM micrograph of ostium bursa of A. margaritacea female. It is situated ventrally towards the posterior end of the abdomen. Note the hardened cup and the substance covering the orifice (image: W. Landman).

Figure 2 in Observations on the mating behaviour and related copulatory anatomy of Alaena margaritacea Eltringham, 1929 (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

Figure 2 – Mating pair, female on top and male below: A – female wafting her wings; B – pair moved to a position where they are screened by an unidentified fern.

Figure 4 in Observations on the mating behaviour and related copulatory anatomy of Alaena margaritacea Eltringham, 1929 (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)

Figure 4 – Abdomen of a female specimen. The red arrow points to the shiny black button-like structure situated at a relative distance away from the posterior tip (marked "p"). This button or sclerotized cup is part of the complex ostium bursa, which partially covers the vaginal orifice.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Figure 4 in Vaejovis lapidicola Stahnke, 1940: hemispermatophore and mating plug from a topotype male (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae)

Figure 4: Vaejovis lapidicola, male topotype, left hemispermatophore (photographed submerged in alcohol): ventral (4a), externodorsal (4b), dorsal (4c), and internal (4d) views; dorsal view showing closeup of bifurcated lamellar hook (4e); ventral view showing close up of lamella distal crest (4f); ventral view showing closeup of embedded mating plug (4g). Abbreviations: lamellar distal crest (dc), lamellar hook (lh), embedded mating plug (mp). Scale bar: 1 mm (4a–4d) and 500 µm (4e–4g).

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Figures 1–2 in Vaejovis lapidicola Stahnke, 1940: hemispermatophore and mating plug from a topotype male (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae)

Figures 1–2. Vaejovis lapidicola, male topotype on red sandstone from the type locality (1) and female topotype in vivo habitus (2).

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2020View details →

Figure 5 in Vaejovis lapidicola Stahnke, 1940: hemispermatophore and mating plug from a topotype male (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae)

Figure 5:Vaejovis lapidicola, male topotype, mating plug from left hemispermatophore: distal (5a), dorsal (5b), proximal (5c), ventral (5d), internal (5e), and external (5f) views. Scale bar: 200 µm.

opencc-by-4.0May 2019View details →

Fig. 1 in On Mate Choice in two Xerophilic Species of Land Snails, Brephulopsis cylindrica (Pulmonata, Enidae) and Xeropicta derbentina (Pulmonata, Hygromiidae)

Fig. 1. The relationship between GD and WN in shells of Xeropicta derbentina ('Namyv' population, 1996).

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

Female reproductive fluid increases the opportunities for post-mating sexual selection by prolonging egg fertilization window

Female reproductive fluid, the fluid that surrounds the eggs, has attracted increasing attention for its role in fertilization and post-mating sexual selection through its effects on sperm traits. Surprisingly, however, only a few studies have investigated the effects of female reproductive fluid on the eggs. Yet, these effects might offer great potential to affect fertilization dynamics by, for example, increasing the opportunities for post-mating sexual selection. Here, we determined whether, by extending the egg fertilization window (time available for egg fertilization), the female reproductive fluid could also increase the opportunities for multiple paternity. Using the Zebrafish Danio rerio we first tested the prediction that female reproductive fluid increases the egg fertilization window, and then, using a split-brood design with sperm of two males added at different times after eggs activation, we tested whether the degree of multiple paternity varies in presence or absence of female reproductive fluid. Our results reveal the potential of the female reproductive fluid to increase multiple paternity throughout its effects on the egg fertilization window thus broadening our knowledge of the mechanisms females in externally fertilizing species affect post-mating sexual selection.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Developmental temperature alters the thermal sensitivity of courtship activity and signal-preference relationships, but not mating rates

Mating behaviours are susceptible to novel or stressful thermal conditions, particularly for ectothermic organisms. One way to deal with changes in thermal conditions is to exhibit developmental plasticity, whereby the thermal sensitivity of mating behaviours depend on developmental conditions. We test how developmental temperature affects the thermal sensitivity of courtship behaviour and mating rates, as well as mating signal and preference coupling. We rear treehoppers under two temperature regimes and then test how a range of ambient temperature affects behaviours involved in the coordination of mating. We also test for sex-specific thermal sensitivity and developmental plasticity. We find developmental plasticity in the thermal sensitivity of courtship behaviour and mating signals for males. However, we found no developmental plasticity in females, and no change in the thermal sensitivity of mating rates. We discuss the implications of signal-preference decoupling for sexual selection, how reversible acclimation may drive sex-specific results, and the potential for mismatches between developmental and mating thermal environments under future climate change predictions.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

Data from: Simulated evolution of mating signal diversification in a primate radiation

Divergence in allopatry and subsequent diversification of mating signals on secondary contact (reinforcement) is a major driver of phenotypic diversity. Observing this evolutionary process directly is often impossible, but simulated evolution can pinpoint key drivers of phenotypic variation. We developed evolutionary simulations in which mating signals, modelled as points in phenotype space, evolve across time under varying evolutionary scenarios. We model mate recognition signals in guenons, a primate radiation exhibiting colourful and diverse face patterns hypothesized to maintain reproductive isolation via mate choice. We simulate face pattern evolution across periods of allopatry and sympatry, identifying the role of key parameters in driving evolutionary endpoints. Results show that diversification in allopatry and assortative mate choice on secondary contact can induce rapid phenotypic diversification, resulting in distinctive (between species) and stereotyped (within species) face patterns, similar to extant guenons. Strong selection against hybrids is key to diversification, with even low levels of hybrid fitness often resulting in merged populations on secondary contact. Our results support a key role for reinforcement by assortative mating in the maintenance of species diversity and support the long-proposed prehistorical scenario for how such striking diversity was produced and maintained in perhaps the most colourful of all mammalian clades.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Data for: Assortative mating in an ecological context: Effects of mate choice errors and relative species abundance on the frequency and asymmetry of hybridization

The frequency and asymmetry of mixed-species mating set the initial stage for the ecological and evolutionary implications of hybridization. How such patterns of mixed-species mating, in turn, are influenced by the combination of mate choice errors and relative species abundance remain largely unknown. We develop a mathematical model that generates predictions for how relative species abundances and mate choice errors affect hybridization patterns. When mate choice errors are small (<5%) the highest frequency of hybridization occurs when one of the hybridizing species is at low abundance, but when mate choice errors are high (>5%) the highest hybridization frequency occurs when species occur in equal proportions. Furthermore, females of the less abundant species are overrepresented in mixed-species matings. We compare our theoretical predictions with empirical data on naturally hybridizing Ficedula flycatchers and find that hybridization is highest when the two species occur in equal abundance, implying rather high mate choice errors. We discuss ecological and evolutionary implications of our findings and encourage future work on hybrid zone dynamics that take demographic aspects, such as relative species abundance, into account.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Data from: AgMate: an optimal mating software versus other mate pair designing methods on long-term breeding of Pinus taeda L

Breeding objectives aim to optimize two crucial but contrasting goals of maximizing genetic gain while managing genetic diversity. In advanced generations, this becomes a challenge in monoecious conifer tree species breeding programs because they suffer from inbreeding. Developing an algorithm that maximizes genetic gain while maintaining genetic diversity for monoecious species is imperative. While methods and algorithms for animal breeding are well-established, an efficient algorithm suited to monoecious species remains elusive. Towards this goal, we have adopted an evolutionary genetic algorithm, the Differential Evolution algorithm, to optimize mate pair designing in Pinus taeda (loblolly pine), a widely planted pine species in the southern USA. AgMate, an optimal mating for monoecious species software, is a multi-functional, completely automated optimization software. It utilizes genetic relationships and breeding values as input to create an optimal mating list. AgMate maximizes the genetic gain and minimizes the increase in average coancestry and inbreeding in the proposed progeny. AgMate was more effective in optimizing mating lists than positive assortative mating and random mating in short-term and long-term settings. AgMate mating list resulted in an average 93% genetic gain each cycle for ten cycles while simultaneously minimizing the increase in coancestry to 0.086. The framework and methods adapted for Pinus taeda are also relevant to the breeding of other monoecious species.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Data from: Evolved differences in thermal plasticity of mosquitofish mating behavior are unrelated to source temperature

Phenotypic plasticity in response to temperature is expected to play a key role in how organisms cope with climate change. Evolved differences in plastic responses are often linked to historical differences in average temperatures, yet we know little about how behavioral plasticity is affected by prevailing thermal environments. In this study, we used a common-garden design to test whether historical differences in average temperatures caused evolutionary divergence in the plasticity of mating behavior of Western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) inhabiting geothermal springs with average source temperatures spanning from 18.8 to 33.3 C. We found population differences in the thermal plasticity of courtship displays, copulation attempts, copulations, and mating efficiency, but these differences could not be explained by average source temperatures. We also tested for differences in thermal optima and maximum performance in mating behavior among populations. We found that only the maximum number of displays differed among populations, although these differences were also unrelated to source temperature. While temperature may have predictable evolutionary consequences for some thermally sensitive traits, our findings are inconsistent with theoretical predictions of evolutionary responses to divergent average temperatures, highlighting the need for greater synergy between empirical and theoretical work to understand thermal adaptation.