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637 results for “Sexual selection”
Living in mixed-sex groups limits sexual selection in coloration and pelage appendages in bovids
<p>Among mammals, bovids provide some of the most striking examples of sexual dimorphism in colouration and pelage appendages, such as beards and manes. This dimorphism is usually assumed to have evolved through sexual selection on males in the context of intra- or intersexual communication. However, the sexes look similar in several bovid species thought to be characterized by large opportunities for sexual selection, hinting at fitness costs of dimorphic traits due to other selection pressures. This study applies the comparative method with phylogenetic control to identify the factors promoting and constraining the evolution of dimorphism in colouration and pelage appendages across bovids. We found that trait dimorphism correlated positively with large breeding group size, an indicator of the intensity of sexual selection, and negatively with male territoriality, which is also likely to affect the operation of sexual selection. The relative rarity of colour and pelage dimorphism in species with territorial mating systems may be explained by weaker sexual selection due to difficulty in monopolizing females and/or sexual selection targeting other traits, such as territorial quality as an extended phenotype. We also found that colour and pelage dimorphism were reduced in species spending more time in mixed-sex groups outside the breeding season, possibly due to increased predation costs from non-uniformity This suggests that benefits from integration into mixed-sex groups select against the extravagant male morphologies otherwise promoted by sexual selection.</p>
Sexual selection and species recognition promote complex male courtship displays in ungulates
<p>Identifying the evolutionary drivers of sexual signal complexity is a key challenge in the study of animal communication. Among mammals, male bovids and cervids often perform elaborate gestural displays during courtship, consisting of ritualized movements of various parts of the body but the causes underlying interspecific variation in complexity of such displays remain poorly understood. Here we apply the comparative method to investigate which factors may have either promoted or constrained gestural repertoire size. </p> <p>We found that sexual selection was a strong predictor of gestural display complexity in male bovids and cervids. Repertoire size was positively correlated with breeding group size, an indicator of the intensity of sexual selection on males. Moreover, repertoires were larger in species adopting non-territorial and lek breeding mating systems than in species adopting resource-defence territoriality, a finding that can be explained by more emphasis on direct benefits than indirect benefits in resource-defence systems, where male mating success may also be less skewed due to difficulty in monopolising mates.</p> <p>The results also indicate that gestural repertoire size was positively correlated with the number of closely-related species occurring in sympatry. This is consistent with display complexity being selected to facilitate species recognition during courtship and thereby avoid interspecific hybridization. At the same time, repertoire size was negatively associated with male body mass, possibly due to the energetic and mechanical constraints imposed on movements in very large species. By contrast, we found no evidence that the habitat drives selection for complex gestural courtship displays.</p>
Data from: Eviction-driven infanticide and sexually selected adoption and infanticide in a neotropical parrot
<p>Infanticide and adoption have been attributed to sexual selection, where an individual later reproduces with the parent whose offspring it killed or adopted. While sexually-selected infanticide is well known, evidence for sexually-selected adoption is anecdotal. We report on both behaviors at 346 nests over 27 years in green-rumped parrotlets (<em>Forpus passerinus</em>) in Venezuela. Parrotlets are monogamous with long-term pairbonds, exhibit a strongly male-biased adult sex ratio, and nest in cavities that are in short supply, creating intense competition for nest sites and mates. Infanticide attacks occurred at 256 nests in two distinct contexts: (1) Attacks were primarily committed by nonbreeding pairs (69%) attempting to evict parents from the cavity. Infanticide attacks per nest were positively correlated with population size and evicting pairs never adopted abandoned offspring. Competition for limited nest sites was a primary cause of eviction-driven infanticide; and (2) Attacks occurred less frequently at nests where one mate died (31%), was perpetrated primarily by stepparents of both sexes, and was independent of population size. Thus, within a single species and mating system, infanticide occurred in multiple contexts due to multiple drivers. Nevertheless, 48% of stepparents of both sexes adopted offspring, and another 23% of stepfathers exhibited both infanticide and long-term care. Stepfathers were often young males who subsequently nested with widows, reaching earlier ages of first breeding than competitors and demonstrating sexually-selected adoption. Adoption and infanticide conferred similar fitness benefits to stepfathers and appeared to be equivalent strategies driven by limited breeding opportunities, male-biased sex ratios and long-term monogamy.</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>
Data from: Sexually selected weapons can wear out, decreasing their effectiveness in combat
<p>Sexual selection has resulted in some of the most elaborate traits seen in animals, many of which are used as weapons. These weapons can be incredibly diverse, even within species. Such morphological variation has largely been attributed to the environment in which individuals are reared and their genetics. However, variation in weapon form could also be the result of a weapon wearing out from usage. This mechanism has received relatively little attention. In this study, we demonstrate that sexually selected weapons can wear out from repeated use, providing experimental evidence that weapon usage can contribute to the diversity of weapon shapes observed within species. In a second experiment, we demonstrate that having a worn-out weapon decreases an individual's fighting ability. This finding illustrates that the shape of a weapon can have an important role in determining contest outcomes. Overall, these results suggest that individuals are limited in the number of times they can effectively use their weapons, which may be one factor (amongst others) influencing how frequently an animal engages in a fight.</p>
Dung beetle sexual selection morphology data
<b>Description: </b><p>Horn length, pronotum width, and body and testes masses for dung beetles across the SAFE sites in 2011 and 2015</p><p><b>Project: </b>This dataset was collected as part of the following SAFE research project: <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/projects/project_view/8"><b>Can the intensity of sexual selection predict the persistence of dung beetle species during habitat disturbance?</b></a></p><p><b>Funding: </b>These data were collected as part of research funded by: </p><ul><li>NERC (Human Modified Tropical Forests Programme, NE/K016407/1, <a href="http://lombok.nerc-hmtf.info/; http://nerc-hmtf.info/">http://lombok.nerc-hmtf.info/; http://nerc-hmtf.info/</a>)</li><li>British Ecological Society (Small Projects Grant, 3256/4035)</li><li>Varley Gradwell Travelling Fellowship In Insect Ecology (Fellowship to E. Slade)</li></ul><p>This dataset is released under the CC-BY 4.0 licence, requiring that you cite the dataset in any outputs, but has the additional condition that you acknowledge the contribution of these funders in any outputs.</p><p></p><p><b>Permits: </b>These data were collected under permit from the following authorities:</p><ul><li>SaBC (Research licence Access licence number JKM/MBS.1000-2/2(381))</li><li>MBMC (Research licence Project number 129)</li><li>Royal Society SEARRP (Research licence RS302)</li><li>MBMC (Research licence project number MBMC/2010/16))</li><li>EPU (Research licence EPU Ruj. UPE: 40/200/19/2712)</li></ul><p></p><p><b>XML metadata: </b>GEMINI compliant metadata for this dataset is available <a href="https://www.safeproject.net/datasets/xml_metadata?id=3342495">here</a></p><p><b>Files: </b>This consists of 1 file: SAFE_database_dung_beetle_sexual_selection_data_final_uploaded.xlsx</p><p><b>SAFE_database_dung_beetle_sexual_selection_data_final_uploaded.xlsx</b></p><p>This file contains dataset metadata and 1 data tables:</p><ol><li><p><b>Horn, body, and testes measurement data</b> (described in worksheet morphology_data)</p><p>Description: Horn length, pronotum width, testes mass, and body mass of dung beetles across the SAFE sites in 2011 and 2015</p><p>Number of fields: 12</p><p>Number of data rows: 7741</p><p>Fields: </p><ul><li><b>habitat</b>: SAFE habitat type (Field type: categorical)</li><li><b>replicate</b>: SAFE sampling block (Field type: location)</li><li><b>species</b>: species (Field type: taxa)</li><li><b>sex</b>: sex (Field type: categorical trait)</li><li><b>year</b>: year individual collected (NA's from OUNHM collections) (Field type: numeric)</li><li><b>pronotum_width</b>: measurement (Field type: numeric trait)</li><li><b>horn_front</b>: measurement (Field type: numeric trait)</li><li><b>horn_side</b>: measurement (Field type: numeric trait)</li><li><b>pronotum_horn_front</b>: measurement (Field type: numeric trait)</li><li><b>pronotum_horn_side</b>: measurement (Field type: numeric trait)</li><li><b>total_mass</b>: weight (Field type: numeric trait)</li><li><b>testes_mass</b>: weight (Field type: numeric trait)</li></ul></li></ol><p><b>Date range: </b>2011-02-01 to 2015-01-10</p><p><b>Latitudinal extent: </b>4.6350 to 4.7716</p><p><b>Longitudinal extent: </b>116.9474 to 117.7031</p><p><b>Taxonomic coverage: </b><br> All taxon names are validated against the GBIF backbone taxonomy. If a dataset uses a synonym, the accepted usage is shown followed by the dataset usage in brackets. Taxa that cannot be validated, including new species and other unknown taxa, morphospecies, functional groups and taxonomic levels not used in the GBIF backbone are shown in square brackets.</p><div> -  Animalia <br> -  -  Arthropoda <br> -  -  -  Insecta <br> -  -  -  -  Coleoptera <br> -  -  -  -  -  Scarabaeidae <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus hidakai</i> (as homotypic_synonym: <i>Microcopris hidakai</i>)<br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._aff._hidakai] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._aff._megapacificus] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._aff._phanaeides_(sp._21)] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._aff._rutilans] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._aff._tridentitibialus] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._aff._variolaris] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus angustatus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus aphodioides</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus aurifex</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus borneensis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus brendeli</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus cervicapra</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus clivimerus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus deliensis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus dux</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus fujiii</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus incisus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus kawaharai</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus laevis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus mulleri</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus nigriobscurior</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._nr._borneensis] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus obscurior</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus ochromerus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus pacificus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus pavidus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus pencillatus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus rorarius</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus rudis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus rugicollis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus sarawacus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus semiaureus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus semicupreus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._sp._SAFE_10] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  [O._sp._SAFE_11] <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus taeniatus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus trituber</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus vulpes</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Onthophagus waterstradti</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Proagoderus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Proagoderus watanabei</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Paragymnopleurus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Paragymnopleurus maurus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Paragymnopleurus sparsus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Paragymnopleurus striatus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Caccobius</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Caccobius bawangensis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Sisyphus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Sisyphus thoracicus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Oniticellus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Oniticellus tessellatus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Yvescambefortius</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Yvescambefortius sarawacus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Synapsis</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Synapsis ritsemae</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Microcopris</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Microcopris doriae</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Ochicanthon</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Ochicanthon dytiscoides</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Ochicanthon masumotoi</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Catharsius</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Catharsius dayacus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Catharsius renaudpauliani</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Copris</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Copris agnus</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Copris ramosiceps</i> <br> -  -  -  -  -  -  -  <i>Copris sinicus</i> <br></div><p></p>
Data from: Male-male competition causes parasite-mediated sexual selection for local adaptation
<p>Sexual selection has been suggested to accelerate local adaptation and promote evolutionary rescue through several ecological and genetic mechanisms. Condition-dependent sexual selection has mainly been studied in laboratory settings while data from natural populations are lacking. One ecological factor that can cause condition-dependent sexual selection is parasitism. Here, we quantified ectoparasite load (<i>Arrenurus </i>water mites) in a natural population of the common bluetail damselfly (<i>Ischnura elegans</i>) over 15 years. We quantified the strength of sexual selection against parasite load in both sexes and experimentally investigated the mechanisms behind such selection. Then, we investigated how parasite resistance and tolerance changed over time to understand how they might influence population density. Parasites reduced mating success in both sexes, and sexual selection was stronger in males than in females. Experiments show that male-male competition is a strong force causing precopulatory sexual selection against parasite load. Although parasite resistance and male parasite tolerance increased over time, suggestive of increasing local adaptation against parasites, no signal of evolutionary rescue could be found. We suggest that condition-dependent sexual selection facilitates local adaptation against parasites and discuss its effects in evolutionary rescue.</p>
Data from: Sexual signal loss in field crickets maintained despite strong sexual selection favoring singing males
Evolutionary biologists commonly seek explanations for how selection drives the emergence of novel traits. While trait loss is also predicted to occur frequently, few contemporary examples exist. In Hawaii, the Pacific field cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus) is undergoing adaptive sexual signal loss due to natural selection imposed by eavesdropping parasitoids. Mutant male crickets ("flatwings") cannot sing. We measured the intensity of sexual selection on wing phenotype in a wild population. First, we surveyed the relative abundance of flatwings and "normal-wings" (non-mutants) on Oahu. Then, we bred wild-mated females' offspring to determine both female genotype with respect to the flatwing mutation and the proportion of flatwing males that sired their offspring. We found evidence of strong sexual selection favoring the production of song: females were predominantly homozygous normal-wing; their offspring were sired disproportionately by singing males; and at the population level, flatwing males became less common following a single sexual selection event. We report a selection coefficient describing the total (pre- and postcopulatory) sexual selection favoring normal-wing males in nature. Given the maintenance of the flatwing phenotype in Hawaii in recent years, this substantial sexual selection additionally suggests an approximate strength of opposing natural selection that favors silent males.
Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection DATA_CODE
<p>Contains all relevant data and code for analyses and figures used in "Male-like ornamentation in female hummingbirds results from social harassment rather than sexual selection" by Jay J. Falk, Michael S. Webster, and Dustin R. Rubenstein. Current Biology, 2021. </p>
Sexual selection and sexual size dimorphism in animals
<p>Sexual selection is often considered as a critical evolutionary force promoting sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in animals. However, empirical evidence for a positive relationship between sexual selection on males and male-biased SSD received mixed support depending on the studied taxonomic group and on the method used to quantify sexual selection. Here, we present a meta-analytic approach accounting for phylogenetic non-independence to test how standardized metrics of the opportunity and strength of pre-copulatory sexual selection relate to SSD across a broad range of animal taxa comprising up to 95 effect sizes from 59 species. We found that SSD based on length measurements was correlated with the sex difference in the opportunity for sexual selection but showed a weak and statistically non-significant relationship with the sex difference in the Bateman gradient. These findings suggest that pre-copulatory sexual selection plays a limited role for the evolution of sexual size dimorphism in a broad phylogenetic context.</p>
Post-copulatory sexual selection is associated with sperm aggregate quality in Peromyscus mice
<p>In some species, sperm form coordinated groups that are hypothesized to improve their swimming performance in competitive contexts or to navigate through the viscous fluids of the female reproductive tract. Here we investigate sperm aggregation across closely-related species of <i>Peromyscus </i>mice that naturally vary by mating system to test the predictions that sperm aggregates (1) are faster than solitary sperm in species that females mate multiply to aid cells in sperm competition, and (2) outperform solitary sperm cells in viscous environments. We find significant variation in the size of sperm aggregates, which negatively associates with relative testis mass, a proxy for sperm competition risk, suggesting that post-copulatory sexual selection has a stabilizing effect on sperm group size. Moreover, our results show that sperm aggregates are faster than solitary sperm in some, but not all, species, and this can vary by fluid viscosity. Of the two species that produce the largest and most frequent groups, we find that sperm aggregates from the promiscuous <i>P. maniculatus</i> are faster than solitary sperm in every experimentally viscous environment but aggregation provides no such kinematic advantage under these same conditions for the monogamous <i>P. polionotus</i>. The reduced performance of <i>P. polionotus</i> aggregates is associated with less efficient aggregate geometry and the inclusion of immotile or morphological abnormal sperm. Our cross-species comparison yields insight into the evolution of sperm social behaviors, provides evidence of extensive variation in the <i>Peromyscus</i> lineage, and reveals that differences in sperm aggregate quality associate with post-copulatory sexual selection.</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>
Heat stress reveals a fertility debt owing to postcopulatory sexual selection
<p>Climates are changing rapidly, demanding equally rapid adaptation of natural populations. Whether sexual selection can aid such adaptation is under debate; while sexual selection should promote adaptation when individuals with high mating success are also best adapted to their local surroundings, the expression of sexually selected traits can incur costs. Here we asked what the demographic consequences of such costs may be once climates change to become harsher and the strength of natural selection increases. We investigated how an evolutionary history of strong postcopulatory sexual selection (sperm competition) affects male fertility under acute adult heat stress. Harnessing the empirical potential of long-term experimental evolution in the seed beetle <em>Callosobruchus</em> <em>maculatus</em>, we assessed the thermal sensitivity of fertility (TSF) in replicated lines maintained for 68 generations under three alternative mating regimes manipulating the opportunity for sexual and natural selection. We find that males evolving under strong sexual selection suffer from increased TSF, and that male success in sperm competition (P2: sperm offense) is genetically correlated to increased TSF. Interestingly, females from the regime under strong sexual selection, who experienced relaxed selection on their own reproductive effort, had high fertility in benign settings but suffered increased TSF, like their brothers. This implies that female fertility and TSF evolved through genetic correlation with reproductive traits sexually selected in males. Paternal but not maternal heat stress reduced offspring fertility with no evidence for adaptive transgenerational plasticity among heat-exposed offspring, indicating that the observed effects may compound over generations. Our results suggest that trade-offs between fertility and traits increasing success in postcopulatory sexual selection can be revealed in harsh environments. This can put polyandrous species under increased risk during extreme heat waves expected under future climate change.</p>
A sexually-selected male weapon characterised by strong additive genetic variance and no evidence for sexually antagonistic polyphenic maintenance
<p><span>Sexual selection and sexual antagonism are important drivers of eco-evolutionary processes. The evolution of traits shaped by these processes depends on their genetic architecture, which remains poorly studied. Here, implementing a quantitative genetics approach using diallel crosses of the bulb mite, <em>Rhizoglyphus</em> <em>robini</em>, we investigated the genetic variance that underlies a sexually-selected weapon that is dimorphic among males and female fecundity. Previous studies indicated that a negative genetic correlation between these two traits likely exists. We found male morph showed considerable additive genetic variance, which is unlikely to be explained solely by mutation-selection balance, indicating the likely presence of large-effect loci. However, a significant magnitude of inbreeding depression also indicates that morph expression is likely to be condition-dependent to some degree and that deleterious recessives can simultaneously contribute to morph expression. Female fecundity also showed a high degree of inbreeding depression, but variance in female fecundity was mostly explained by epistatic effects, with very little contribution from additive effects. We found no significant genetic correlation, nor any evidence for dominance reversal, between male morph and female fecundity. The complex genetic architecture underlying male morph and female fecundity in this system has important implications for our understanding of the evolutionary interplay between purifying selection and sexually antagonistic selection.</span></p>
Sexual selection does not drive hindwing tail elaboration in a moon moth, Actias luna
<p>The most emblematic animal traits are often attributed to sexual selection. While this pressure is an important force, elaborated traits that have been driven solely by natural selection are less enumerated. Here, we test an elaborate trait that has been studied in an anti-predator context, but that remains unstudied for its role in mating. We gave female <em>Actias</em> <em>luna</em> (Saturniidae) moths a choice between two males of differing hindwing tail treatments. In our primary experiment, males with intact tails garnered more matings than males with tails removed, but this difference appears to result from damage incurred by tail removal. We verified this with a series of additional experiments: we created a tail/no-tail dyad where we removed tails from both males, then reglued tails to one and applied glue to the hindwings of the other. We found no difference in mating success. To ensure that this no-difference result was not due to the glue itself, we offered females two intact males, with glue added to the wings of one. This dyad also had equal mating success. We therefore find no evidence that tails play a role in sexual selection. These results, in combination with previous research on bat-moth battles using <em>A. luna</em>, leads us to conclude that hindwing tail elaboration was likely driven by natural selection alone. We suggest that future research testing multiple selective forces on animal traits is needed to reveal the prevalence of natural versus sexual selection as the primary force driving trait elaboration in diverse animal taxa.</p>
Sexually antagonistic selection maintains genetic variance when sexual dimorphism evolves
<p>Breeding design data for body size in seed beetles (a sexually antagonistic trait) after 10 generations under different artificial selection conditions to test the effects of selection on the genetic variance of body size. The breeding design and sample size of the study allow us to partition genetic variances into additive autosomal, additive sex-linked, autosomal dominance and X-linked dominance variance.<br><br>See related dataset for body size data of the ancestral population before selection.</p>
Data from: Increased male-induced harm in response to female-limited selection: interactive effects between intra- and interlocus sexual conflict?
<p><span>Interlocus sexual conflict (IRSC) occurs because of shared interactions that have opposite effects on male and female fitness. Typically, it is assumed that loci involved in IRSC have sex-limited expression and are thus not directly affected by selective pressures acting on the other sex. However, if loci involved in IRSC have pleiotropic effects in the other sex, intersexual selection can shape the evolutionary dynamics of conflict escalation and resolution, as well as the evolution of reproductive traits linked to IRSC loci, and vice versa. Here we used an artificial selection approach in</span><span> Japanese quail (<em>Coturnix</em> <em>japonica</em>) to test if female-limited selection on reproductive investment affects the amount of harm caused by males during mating. We found that males originating from lines selected for high female reproductive investment caused more oxidative damage in the female reproductive tract than males originating from lines selected for low female reproductive investment. This male-induced damage was specific to the oviduct and not found in other female tissues, suggesting that it was ejaculate-mediated. Our results suggest that intersexual selection shapes the evolution of IRSC and that male-induced harm may contribute to the maintenance of variation in female reproductive investment.</span></p>
Sexual selection in seaweed? Testing Bateman's principles in the red alga Gracilaria gracilis
<p>In anisogamous species, sexual selection is expected to be stronger in males. Bateman's principles state that the variance in (i) reproductive and (ii) mating success is greater for males and (iii) the relationship between reproductive success and mating success (the Bateman gradient) is also stronger for males than for females. Sexual selection, based on Bateman's principles, has been demonstrated in animals and some angiosperms, but never in seaweed. Here we focus on the oogamous haploid-diploid rhodophyte <em>Gracilaria gracilis</em> in which previous studies have shown evidence for non-random mating, suggesting the existence of male-male competition and female choice. We estimated mating and reproductive success using paternity analyses in a natural population where up to 92% of fertilizations occurred between partners of that population. The results show that the variance in mating success is significantly greater in males than in females and that the Bateman gradient is positive only in males. Distance to female partners also explains a minor part of the variance in male mating success. Although there is no evidence for sexual dimorphism, our study supports the hypothesis that sexual selection occurs in <em>G. gracilis</em>, likely on male traits, even if we cannot observe, qualify, or quantify them yet.</p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.