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Endless forms of sexual selection
In recent years, the field of sexual selection has exploded, with advances in theoretical and empirical research complementing each other in exciting ways. This perspective piece is the product of a “stock-taking” workshop on sexual selection and sexual conflict. Our aim is to identify and deliberat...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
PeerJ Inc.
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6839514/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31720113 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7988 |
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author | Lindsay, Willow R. Andersson, Staffan Bererhi, Badreddine Höglund, Jacob Johnsen, Arild Kvarnemo, Charlotta Leder, Erica H. Lifjeld, Jan T. Ninnes, Calum E. Olsson, Mats Parker, Geoff A. Pizzari, Tommaso Qvarnström, Anna Safran, Rebecca J. Svensson, Ola Edwards, Scott V. |
author_facet | Lindsay, Willow R. Andersson, Staffan Bererhi, Badreddine Höglund, Jacob Johnsen, Arild Kvarnemo, Charlotta Leder, Erica H. Lifjeld, Jan T. Ninnes, Calum E. Olsson, Mats Parker, Geoff A. Pizzari, Tommaso Qvarnström, Anna Safran, Rebecca J. Svensson, Ola Edwards, Scott V. |
author_sort | Lindsay, Willow R. |
collection | PubMed |
description | In recent years, the field of sexual selection has exploded, with advances in theoretical and empirical research complementing each other in exciting ways. This perspective piece is the product of a “stock-taking” workshop on sexual selection and sexual conflict. Our aim is to identify and deliberate on outstanding questions and to stimulate discussion rather than provide a comprehensive overview of the entire field. These questions are organized into four thematic sections we deem essential to the field. First we focus on the evolution of mate choice and mating systems. Variation in mate quality can generate both competition and choice in the opposite sex, with implications for the evolution of mating systems. Limitations on mate choice may dictate the importance of direct vs. indirect benefits in mating decisions and consequently, mating systems, especially with regard to polyandry. Second, we focus on how sender and receiver mechanisms shape signal design. Mediation of honest signal content likely depends on integration of temporally variable social and physiological costs that are challenging to measure. We view the neuroethology of sensory and cognitive receiver biases as the main key to signal form and the ‘aesthetic sense’ proposed by Darwin. Since a receiver bias is sufficient to both initiate and drive ornament or armament exaggeration, without a genetically correlated or even coevolving receiver, this may be the appropriate ‘null model’ of sexual selection. Thirdly, we focus on the genetic architecture of sexually selected traits. Despite advances in modern molecular techniques, the number and identity of genes underlying performance, display and secondary sexual traits remains largely unknown. In-depth investigations into the genetic basis of sexual dimorphism in the context of long-term field studies will reveal constraints and trajectories of sexually selected trait evolution. Finally, we focus on sexual selection and conflict as drivers of speciation. Population divergence and speciation are often influenced by an interplay between sexual and natural selection. The extent to which sexual selection promotes or counteracts population divergence may vary depending on the genetic architecture of traits as well as the covariance between mating competition and local adaptation. Additionally, post-copulatory processes, such as selection against heterospecific sperm, may influence the importance of sexual selection in speciation. We propose that efforts to resolve these four themes can catalyze conceptual progress in the field of sexual selection, and we offer potential avenues of research to advance this progress. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6839514 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-68395142019-11-12 Endless forms of sexual selection Lindsay, Willow R. Andersson, Staffan Bererhi, Badreddine Höglund, Jacob Johnsen, Arild Kvarnemo, Charlotta Leder, Erica H. Lifjeld, Jan T. Ninnes, Calum E. Olsson, Mats Parker, Geoff A. Pizzari, Tommaso Qvarnström, Anna Safran, Rebecca J. Svensson, Ola Edwards, Scott V. PeerJ Animal Behavior In recent years, the field of sexual selection has exploded, with advances in theoretical and empirical research complementing each other in exciting ways. This perspective piece is the product of a “stock-taking” workshop on sexual selection and sexual conflict. Our aim is to identify and deliberate on outstanding questions and to stimulate discussion rather than provide a comprehensive overview of the entire field. These questions are organized into four thematic sections we deem essential to the field. First we focus on the evolution of mate choice and mating systems. Variation in mate quality can generate both competition and choice in the opposite sex, with implications for the evolution of mating systems. Limitations on mate choice may dictate the importance of direct vs. indirect benefits in mating decisions and consequently, mating systems, especially with regard to polyandry. Second, we focus on how sender and receiver mechanisms shape signal design. Mediation of honest signal content likely depends on integration of temporally variable social and physiological costs that are challenging to measure. We view the neuroethology of sensory and cognitive receiver biases as the main key to signal form and the ‘aesthetic sense’ proposed by Darwin. Since a receiver bias is sufficient to both initiate and drive ornament or armament exaggeration, without a genetically correlated or even coevolving receiver, this may be the appropriate ‘null model’ of sexual selection. Thirdly, we focus on the genetic architecture of sexually selected traits. Despite advances in modern molecular techniques, the number and identity of genes underlying performance, display and secondary sexual traits remains largely unknown. In-depth investigations into the genetic basis of sexual dimorphism in the context of long-term field studies will reveal constraints and trajectories of sexually selected trait evolution. Finally, we focus on sexual selection and conflict as drivers of speciation. Population divergence and speciation are often influenced by an interplay between sexual and natural selection. The extent to which sexual selection promotes or counteracts population divergence may vary depending on the genetic architecture of traits as well as the covariance between mating competition and local adaptation. Additionally, post-copulatory processes, such as selection against heterospecific sperm, may influence the importance of sexual selection in speciation. We propose that efforts to resolve these four themes can catalyze conceptual progress in the field of sexual selection, and we offer potential avenues of research to advance this progress. PeerJ Inc. 2019-11-05 /pmc/articles/PMC6839514/ /pubmed/31720113 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7988 Text en ©2019 Lindsay et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. |
spellingShingle | Animal Behavior Lindsay, Willow R. Andersson, Staffan Bererhi, Badreddine Höglund, Jacob Johnsen, Arild Kvarnemo, Charlotta Leder, Erica H. Lifjeld, Jan T. Ninnes, Calum E. Olsson, Mats Parker, Geoff A. Pizzari, Tommaso Qvarnström, Anna Safran, Rebecca J. Svensson, Ola Edwards, Scott V. Endless forms of sexual selection |
title | Endless forms of sexual selection |
title_full | Endless forms of sexual selection |
title_fullStr | Endless forms of sexual selection |
title_full_unstemmed | Endless forms of sexual selection |
title_short | Endless forms of sexual selection |
title_sort | endless forms of sexual selection |
topic | Animal Behavior |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6839514/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31720113 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7988 |
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