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189 results for “sexual traits”
Supporting data: Prevalence of sexual dimorphism in mammalian phenotypic traits
<p>Supporting material for the manuscript <strong>“</strong><strong>Prevalence of sexual dimorphism in mammalian phenotypic traits”</strong> . This manuscript was published in Nature Communication 26th January 2017</p>
Data from: Functional trait plasticity diverges between sexes in African cichlids: a contribution toward ecological sexual dimorphism?
<p>Phenotypic plasticity enables development to produce multiple phenotypes in response to environmental conditions. Plasticity driven variation has been suggested to play a key role in adaptive divergence, and plasticity itself can evolve. However, the interaction of plasticity with the multiple levels involved with adaptive divergence is less understood. For example, sexual dimorphism can contribute to adaptive variation through ecological sexual dimorphism (ESD), but the contribution of plasticity to this phenomenon is unknown. Therefore, to determine the potential contribution of plasticity to ESD, we used the adaptive radiation of Malawi cichlids. Two mouthbrooding species (<em>Labeotropheus fuelleborni </em>and <em>Tropheops</em> "Red Cheek", hereafter LF and TRC respectively) with differences in foraging tactics underwent foraging experiments using benthic and limnetic treatments while accounting for sex. Plasticity in craniofacial shape and three functionally important traits were measured. Plasticity was shown, but without any sex-based differences in shape. However, for mechanical advantage traits of the mandible sex by diet interactions were found. This suggests that ESD, may be influenced by phenotypic plasticity that diverges between sexes. Given the involvement of the mandible in parental care in cichlids this may indicate that sexual divergence in plasticity may trade-off against maternal care tactics.</p>
High sexual display trait diversity without measured genetic divergence in a montane hybrid zone involving young species (Habronattus americanus subgroup, Araneae, Salticidae)
<p>Genetic introgression, allele exchange across species boundaries, is a commonly recognized feature of animal evolution. Under such a paradigm contemporary contact zones provide first-hand and complementary insight into the geographic, phenotypic, and genetic details of introgression. Also, when mate choice phenotypes are conspicuous and variable in hybrids, contact zones provide potential insight into how sexual selection interacts with species boundary maintenance, particularly when postzygotic reproductive isolation is weak. The <em>Habronattus</em> <em>americanus</em> subgroup includes several recently evolved jumping spider species, with an estimated age of about 200,000 years, and substantial evidence for hybridization and introgression. We explored a contact zone involving <em>H. americanus</em> (Keyserling, 1885) and <em>H. kubai</em> (Griswold, 1979) on Mount Shasta, California, in alpine habitats that would have been unavailable (under ice) at the Last Glacial Maximum. We characterized morphological diversity within the contact zone, including the fine-scale geographic distribution of hybrid and parental individuals, and assessed genetic variation using ddRADseq data. Combined results indicate a lack of measured genomic differentiation between specimens with distinct morphologies, including individuals with phenotypes of the parental species. We identified a diverse array of hybrid morphologies, with phenotypic evidence for backcrossing, essentially forming a phenotypic bridge between parental taxa. The study area is characterized by more hybrid than parental individuals, with a significantly larger number of red-palped morphologies than white and/or yellow-palped morphologies; the novel, white-palped phenotype is perhaps transgressive. Overall, these results contribute to a better understanding of the expected ebb and flow of lineage interactions during the early stages of speciation.</p>
Specimens from Brand et al. 2021, "Large-scale phylogenomics of the genus Macrostomum (Platyhelminthes) reveals cryptic diversity and novel sexual traits"
<p>The deposited folders contain image and video material of free-living flatworm specimens that were documented in vivo. These data support the following publication:</p> <p>Jeremias N. Brand, Gudrun Viktorin, R. Axel W. Wiberg, Christian Beisel, Lukas Schärer.<br> Large-scale phylogenomics of the genus<em> Macrostomum</em> (Platyhelminthes) reveals cryptic diversity and novel sexual traits.<br> Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Volume 166. 2022. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107296">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107296</a></p> <p>For more information about these specimens see also http://macrostomorpha.info.</p>
Experimental sexual selection affects the evolution of physiological and life history traits
<p>Sexual selection and sexual conflict are expected to affect all aspects of the phenotype, not only traits that are directly involved in reproduction. Here, we show coordinated evolution of multiple physiological and life history traits in response to long-term experimental manipulation of the mating system in populations of <em>Drosophila pseudoobscura</em>. Development time was extended under polyandry relative to monogamy in both sexes, potentially due to higher investment in traits linked to sexual selection and sexual conflict. Individuals (especially males) evolving under polyandry had higher metabolic rates and locomotor activity than those evolving under monogamy. Polyandry individuals also invested more in metabolites associated with increased endurance capacity and efficient energy metabolism and regulation, namely lipid and glycogen. Finally, polyandry males were less desiccation- and starvation- resistant than monogamy males, suggesting trade-offs between resistance and sexually selected traits. Our results provide experimental evidence that mating systems can impose selection that influences the evolution of non-sexual phenotypes such as development, activity, metabolism, and nutrient homeostasis.</p>
Resource-dependent investment in male sexual traits in a viviparous fish
<p><span>Exaggerated and conspicuous sexually selected traits are often costly to produce and maintain. Costly traits are expected to show resource-dependent expression, since limited resources prevent animals from investing maximally in multiple traits simultaneously. However, there may be critical periods during an individual's life where the expression of traits is altered if resources are limited. Moreover, costly sexual traits may arise from sexual selection acting both before (pre-copulatory) and after mating (post-copulatory). Gaining a robust understanding of resource-dependent trait expression therefore requires an approach that examines both episodes of sexual selection following resource limitation during different times in an individual's life. Yet few studies have taken such an approach. Here, we examine how resource restriction influences a set of pre- and post-copulatory traits in male pygmy halfbeaks (<em>Dermogenys collettei</em>), which invest in sexual ornaments and routinely engage in male-male contests and sperm competition. Critically, we examined responses in males when resources were restricted during development and after reaching sexual maturity. Both pre- and post-copulatory traits are resource-dependent in male halfbeaks. Body size, beak size, courtship behavior, and testes size were reduced by diet restriction, while, unexpectedly, the restricted-diet group had a larger area of red color on the beak and fins after diet treatment. These patterns were generally consistent when resources were restricted during development and after reaching sexual maturity. The study reinforces the role of resource acquisition in maintaining variation among sexual traits. </span></p>
Genomic evidence that a sexually selected trait captures genome-wide variation and facilitates the purging of genetic load
<p><span>The evolution of costly traits like deer antlers and peacock trains, which drove the formation of Darwinian sexual selection theory, has been hypothesised to both reflect and affect patterns of genetic variance across the genome, but direct tests are missing. Here, we used an evolve and re-sequence approach to reveal patterns of genome-wide diversity associated with the expression of a sexually-selected weapon that is dimorphic among males of the bulb mite,</span> <em>Rhizoglyphus robini</em><span>. Populations selected for the weapon </span>showed reduced genome-wide diversity compared to populations selected against the weapon, particularly in terms of the number of segregating non-synonymous positions, indicating enhanced purifying selection. <span>This increased purifying selection reduced inbreeding depression, but outbred female fitness did not improve, possibly because any benefits were offset by increased sexual antagonism. </span>The majority of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that consistently diverged in response to selection were initially rare and overrepresented in exons, and enriched in regions under balancing or relaxed selection, suggesting they are likely moderately deleterious variants. These diverged SNPs were scattered across the genome, <span>further demonstrating that selection for or against the weapon and the associated changes to the mating system can both capture and influence genome-wide variation. </span></p>
Data from: Sexually discordant selection is associated with trait specific morphological changes and a complex genomic response
<p>Sexes often have differing fitness optima, potentially generating intra-locus sexual conflict, as each sex bears a genetic 'load' of alleles beneficial to the other sex. One strategy to evaluate conflict in the genome is to artificially select populations discordantly, against established sexual dimorphism, reintroducing attenuated conflict. We investigate a long-term artificial selection experiment reversing sexual size dimorphism in <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em> during ~350 generations of sexually discordant selection. We explore morphological and genomic changes to identify loci under selection between the sexes in discordantly and concordantly size selected treatments. Despite substantial changes to overall size, concordant selection maintained ancestral sexual dimorphism. However, discordant selection altered size dimorphism in a trait-specific manner. We observe multiple, possible soft selective sweeps in the genome, with size related genes showing signs of selection. Patterns of genomic differentiation between the sexes within lineages identified potential sites maintained by sexual conflict. One discordant selected lineage shows a pattern of elevated genomic differentiation between males and females, on chromosome 3L, consistent with the maintenance of sexual conflict. Our results suggest visible signs of conflict and differentially segregating alleles between the sexes due to discordant selection.</p>
Data from: Extreme range in adult body size reveals hidden trade-offs among sexually selected traits
<p>Sexually selected weapons used to monopolize mating opportunities are predicted to trade-off with traits used in competition for fertilization. Yet, the limited size-range typically found among adults of a species often precludes clear comparisons between population-level and individual-level relative trait investment. The jousting weevil, <em>Brentus anchorago </em>(Coleoptera: Brentidae), varies more than 26-fold in body mass, which is among the most extreme adult body size ranges of any solitary terrestrial species. We reveal a trade-off at a population-level: hypermetric scaling in male weapons (slope =1.59) and a closely-mirrored reversal in allocation to post-copulatory traits (slope =0.54). Yet, at the individual-level we find the opposite pattern; males that invest relatively more in weapons for their size class also invest more in post-copulatory traits. In support of our findings from jousting weevils<em>, </em>across 36 dung beetle species we find the relative effect of population-level scaling increases in species with a larger range in adult body size. Our findings reveal that population-level allometries and individual level trade-offs can both be important in shaping relative trait allocation; we highlight that the adult body size range is rarely examined, but may be integral to gain a deeper understanding of trade-offs in reproductive allocation.</p>
The evolution of sexually dimorphic traits in ecological gradients: An interplay between natural and sexual selection in hummingbirds
<p><span>Traits that exhibit differences between the sexes have been of special interest in the study of phenotypic evolution. Classic hypotheses explain sexually dimorphic traits via intrasexual competition and mate selection, yet natural selection may also act differentially on the sexes to produce dimorphism. Natural selection can act either through physiological and ecological constraints on one of the sexes or by modulating the strength of sexual/social selection. This predicts an association between the degree of dimorphism and variation in ecological environments. Here, we characterise the variation in hummingbird dimorphism across ecological gradients using rich databases of morphology, colouration, and song. We show that morphological dimorphism decreases with elevation in the understorey and increases with elevation in mixed habitats, that dichromatism increases at high altitudes in open and mixed habitats, and that song is less complex in mixed habitats. Our results are consistent with flight constraints, lower predation pressure at high elevations, and with habitat effects on song transmission. We also show that dichromatism and song complexity are positively associated, while tail dimorphism and song complexity are negatively associated. Our results demonstrate that key ecological factors shape sexually dimorphic traits and that different communication modalities do not always evolve in tandem.</span></p>
Data for: The effect of brief or prolonged bouts of winning or losing male-male contests on plasticity in sexually selected traits
<p>Fight outcomes often affect male fitness by determining their access to mates. Thus 'winner-loser' effects, where winners often win their next contest, while losers tend to lose, can influence how males allocate resources towards pre- and post-copulatory traits. We experimentally manipulated the winning/losing experiences of pairs of size-matched male <em>Gambusia holbrooki</em> for either a day, a week or three weeks to test whether prior winning/losing experiences differentially affect the plasticity of male investment into either mating effort (pre-copulatory) or ejaculates (post-copulatory). When winner/loser pairs directly competed for a female, winners had better pre-copulatory outcomes than losers for three of the four traits we measured: mating attempts, successful attempts, and time spent with the female (but not aggression). However, winners and losers did not differ in either their total sperm counts nor sperm velocity. Interestingly, absolute male size, an important predictor of fighting success, mediated winner-loser effects on how long males then spent near a female. Compared to losers, smaller winners spent more time with the female than did larger winners, suggesting that how males respond to prior social experiences is size-dependent. We discuss the general importance of controlling for inherent male condition when comparing male investment into condition-dependent traits.</p>
Data and code for: Sex-specific trait architecture in a sexually size dimorphic spider
<p class="MsoNormal">Sexual dimorphism, or sex-specific trait expression, may evolve when selection favours different optima for the same trait between sexes, i.e., under antagonistic selection. Intra-locus sexual conflict exists when the sexually dimorphic trait under antagonistic selection is based on genes shared between sexes. A common assumption is that the presence of sexual-size dimorphism (SSD) indicates that sexual conflict has been, at least partly, resolved via decoupling of the trait architecture between sexes. However, whether and how decoupling of the trait architecture between sexes has been realised often remains unknown. We tested for differences in architecture of adult body size between sexes in a species with extreme SSD, the African hermit spider (<em>Nephilingis cruentata</em>), where adult female body size greatly exceeds that of males. Specifically, we estimated the sex-specific importance of genetic and maternal effects on adult body size among individuals that we laboratory-reared for up to eight generations. Quantitative genetic model estimates indicated that size variation in females is to a larger extent explained by direct genetic effects than by maternal effects, but in males to a larger extent by maternal than by genetic effects. We conclude that this sex-specific body-size architecture enables body-size evolution to proceed much more independently than under a common architecture to both sexes.</p>
Sex differences in the behavioural traits across ontogenetic stages in a sexually-size dimorphic spider
<p><span>Selection acts differently on females and males due to differences in potential reproductive rates, driving the evolution of sex differences in traits, including growth and behaviour. Additionally, selection pressures vary during an individual's ontogeny, with growth being crucial in early developmental stages and reproduction during adulthood, leading to age- and sex-specific behavioural strategies. In this study, we investigated a sexually-size dimorphic spider, the raft spider (<em>Dolomedes fimbriatus</em>), where females are substantially larger than males. We repeatedly observed spiders from juvenile to adult stages, examining boldness, voracity towards prey, and probability to attack. Our findings revealed that females exhibited greater boldness, voracity, and probability to back-attack the simulated attacker compared to males. Notably, the observed behaviours changed during ontogeny, with sex differences in the magnitudes and directions of change, indicating distinct life history strategies between sexes. Moreover, we detected positive associations between body mass or age and behavioural traits, supporting a proposed positive feedback loop between assets and behaviour. While mass and age were not significant confounding predictors in the analyses of sex differences in behaviour, some collinearity was present between sex, mass, and age, so that their effects on behavioural differences between sexes cannot be conclusively disentangled. Repeatability of behaviours was low but significant for boldness and probability to attack, with similar estimates between sexes. These results underscore the importance of considering sex-specific life history strategies in behavioural trait studies. </span></p>
Data from: Sexually attractive traits predict predation-threat sensitivity of male alternative mating tactics
<p>Although visual sexual signals, such as ornamental colors and courtship displays, and large body size in males are attractive to females in numerous species, they may also inadvertently attract the attention of eavesdropping predators and thus may be costly in terms of increasing individual risk of mortality to predation. Theoretically, more color-ornamented and larger males should be more predation threat sensitive and suppress their sexual signaling and(or) mating effort relatively more than their less color-ornamented and smaller counterparts when under predation hazard. Here, we experimentally tested this hypothesis by quantifying concurrently the rates of alternative mating tactics (courtship displays, sneak mating attempts) expressed by male Trinidadian guppies (<em>Poecilia reticulata</em>) varying in color ornamentation and body size under a staged immediate threat of predation. Males suppressed their overall mating effort in response to the perceived predation threat, decreasing the frequency of their (presumably more conspicuous) courtship displays significantly more on average than the frequency of their sneak mating behavior. Statistically controlling for body length, more color-ornamented males were more threat-sensitive in their courtship displays, but not sneak mating attempts, under predation hazard than drabber males. Controlling for body coloration, larger males exhibited lower courtship and sneak mating efforts than smaller males in both predation treatments, but body length only influenced threat sensitivity in sneak mating behavior. These results are consistent with both the threat-sensitive hypothesis and asset protection principle and highlight the phenotype-dependency and adaptive plasticity of alternative mating tactics in male guppies under varying predation risk.</p>
Sexually concordant selection on floral traits despite greater opportunity for selection through male fitness
<p><span>Pollinators are important drivers of floral trait evolution, yet plant populations are not always perfectly adapted to their pollinators. Such apparent maladaptation may result from conflicting selection through male and female sexual functions in hermaphrodites. </span></p> <p><span>We studied sex-specific mating patterns and phenotypic selection on floral traits in <em>Aconitum gymnandrum</em>. After genotyping 1786 offspring, we partitioned individual fitness into sex-specific selfed and outcrossed components and estimated phenotypic selection acting through each.</span></p> <p><span>Relative fitness increased with increasing mate number, and more so for male function. This led to greater opportunity for selection through outcrossed male fitness, though patterns of phenotypic selection on floral traits tended to be similar, and with better support for selection through female rather than male fitness components. We detected directional selection through one or more fitness components for larger flower number, larger flowers, and more negative nectar gradients within inflorescences. </span></p> <p><span>Our results</span><span> are consistent with Bateman's principles for sex-specific mating patterns and illustrate that, despite the expected difference in opportunity for selection, patterns of variation in selection across traits can be rather similar for the male and female sexual functions. These results shed new light on the effect of sexual selection on the evolution of floral traits.</span></p>
Vertically inherited microbiota and environment-modifying behaviors indirectly shape the exaggeration of secondary sexual traits in the gazelle dung beetle
<p><span>Many organisms actively manipulate the environment</span><span> in ways that have the potential to feed back on their own development, a process referred to as developmental niche construction</span><span>. Yet, </span><span>the role that constructed biotic and abiotic environments play in shaping phenotypic variation and its evolution is insufficiently understood. Here, we assess whether environmental modifications made by developing dung beetles impact the environment-sensitive expression of secondary sexual traits</span><span>.</span> <span>Larval gazelle dung beetles both physically modify their ontogenetic environment and structure their biotic interactions through the vertical inheritance of microbial symbionts. By experimentally eliminating i) physical environmental modifications, and ii) the vertical inheritance of microbes, we assess the degree to which (sym)biotic and physical environmental modifications shape the exaggeration of several traits </span><span>varying in their degree and direction of sexual dimorphism. We expected the experimental reduction of a larva's ability to shape its environment to affect trait size and scaling, especially for traits that are sexually dimorphic and environmentally plastic</span><span>. </span><span>We find that compromised developmental niche construction indeed shapes sexual dimorphism in overall body size and the absolute sizes of male-limited exaggerated head horns, the strongly sexually dimorphic fore tibia length and width, as well as the weakly dimorphic elytron length and width. This suggests that ontogenetic environmental modifications affect sex-specific phenotypic variation in functional traits. However, most of these effects can be attributed to nutrition-dependent plasticity in size and non-isometric trait scaling, rather than body-size-independent effects on the developmental regulation of trait size. Our findings suggest that the reciprocal relationship between developing organisms, their symbionts, and their environment can have considerable impacts on sexual dimorphism and functional morphology. </span></p>
Data from: Loss of pigments in females is associated with sexual dichromatism in an ornamental trait
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Data from: Functional trait plasticity diverges between sexes in African cichlids: a contribution toward ecological sexual dimorphism?
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Data from: Extreme range in adult body size reveals hidden trade-offs among sexually selected traits
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Variable and sexually conflicting selection on Silene stellata floral traits by a putative moth pollinator selective agent
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