scholarly journals Adaptive value of same-sex pairing in Laysan albatross

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1775) ◽  
pp. 20132473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay C. Young ◽  
Eric A. VanderWerf
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Transition Probabilities ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Alternative Mating Strategy ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Evolutionary Context ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
Laysan Albatross

Same-sex pairing is widespread among animals but is difficult to explain in an evolutionary context because it does not result in reproduction, and thus same-sex behaviour often is viewed as maladaptive. Here, we compare survival, fecundity and transition probabilities of female Laysan albatross in different pair types, and we show how female–female pairing could be an adaptive alternative mating strategy, albeit one that resulted in lower fitness than male–female pairing. Females in same-sex pairs produced 80% fewer chicks, had lower survival and skipped breeding more often than those in male–female pairs. Females in same-sex pairs that raised a chick sometimes acquired a male mate in the following year, but females in failed same-sex pairs never did, suggesting that males exert sexual selection by assessing female quality and relegating low-quality females into same-sex pairs. Sexual selection by males in a monomorphic, non-ornamented species is rare and suggests that reconsideration is needed of the circumstances in which alternative reproductive behaviour evolves. Given the lack of males and obligate biparental care in this species, this research demonstrates how same-sex pairing was better than not breeding and highlights how it could be an adaptive strategy under certain demographic conditions.

Synthesis and Outlook

2021 ◽  
pp. 153-161
Author(s):  
Ingo Schlupp
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Female Ornamentation ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Investment In Reproduction ◽  
Selection Research ◽  
Male Mate

In this final chapter I want to briefly recap what I presented in the previous chapters and provide a few ideas on what might be done in the future to move the field forward. All three factors I discussed as relevant in male mate choice—male investment in reproduction, sex ratios, and variability in partner quality—are still emerging fields in sexual selection research and need more theoretical and empirical work. I suggest that variability in female quality is more important and more complex than currently known. The same is true for sex ratios. On the other hand, I suggest that sheer investment in gametes may be a little less important than currently assumed. Most importantly we need to explore the interactions of these three pathways to male mate choice. Female competition and also female ornamentation are still somewhat enigmatic and both topics are likely to grow in importance for our understanding of sexual selection. I think considering male and female choice together, as well as female and male competition will ultimately provide a more complete picture of Darwinian sexual selection.

Male Choice, Female Competition, and Female Ornaments in Sexual Selection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingo Schlupp
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Female Competition ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Choice ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Female Ornaments ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Male Mate

When Darwin first proposed sexual selection theory he suggested two mechanisms: competition among males and choice by females. There is no doubt that these mechanisms are immensely important, but their mirror images have been largely underappreciated so far. In fact, males choose as well and females compete. Males choose based on female quality, often selecting mating partners that are more fecund. But male choice is also associated with changes in the sex ratio of a population and males can be choosy when they are rare. Furthermore, males sometimes invest heavily into reproduction and that too can be associated with male choice. That females compete with another, although less often with open aggression, is another understudied phenomenon. Finally, we now know that females are often ornamented, but are these ornaments under sexual selection by males? This book tries to review what we know and point to what we don’t know while pointing out the connections between male mate choice and female competition for a more complete view of sexual selection.

scholarly journals Evolutionary insight from a humble fly: sperm competition and the yellow dungfly

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1813) ◽  
pp. 20200062
Author(s):  
Leigh W. Simmons ◽  
Geoff A. Parker ◽  
David J. Hosken
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
The 1960S

Studies of the yellow dungfly in the 1960s provided one of the first quantitative demonstrations of the costs and benefits associated with male and female reproductive behaviour. These studies advanced appreciation of sexual selection as a significant evolutionary mechanism and contributed to the 1970s paradigm shift toward individual selectionist thinking. Three behaviours in particular led to the realization that sexual selection can continue during and after mating: (i) female receptivity to remating, (ii) sperm displacement and (iii) post-copulatory mate guarding. These behaviours either generate, or are adaptations to sperm competition, cryptic female choice and sexual conflict. Here we review this body of work, and its contribution to the development of post-copulatory sexual selection theory. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of sperm competition’.

scholarly journals Sperm removal during copulation confirmed in the oldest extant damselfly,Hemiphlebia mirabilis

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo Cordero-Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Short Range ◽  
Body Position ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Scramble Competition ◽  
Stage I ◽  
Female Genitalia ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Male Genital

Postcopulatory sexual selection may favour mechanisms to reduce sperm competition, like physical sperm removal by males. To investigate the origin of sperm removal, I studied the reproductive behaviour and mechanisms of sperm competition in the only living member of the oldest damselfly family,Hemiphlebia mirabilis, one species that was considered extinct in the 1980s. This species displays scramble competition behaviour. Males search for females with short flights and both sexes exhibit a conspicuous “abdominal flicking”. This behaviour is used by males during an elaborate precopulatory courtship, unique among Odonata. Females use a similar display to reject male attempts to form tandem, but eventually signal receptivity by a particular body position. Males immobilise females during courtship using their legs, which, contrarily to other damselflies, never autotomise. Copulation is short (range 4.1–18.7 min), and occurs in two sequential stages. In the first stage, males remove part of the stored sperm, and inseminate during the second stage, at the end of mating. The male genital ligula matches the size and form of female genitalia, and ends by two horns covered by back-oriented spines. The volume of sperm in females before copulation was 2.7 times larger than the volume stored in females whose copulation was interrupted at the end of stage I, indicative of a significant sperm removal. These results point out that sperm removal is an old character in the evolution of odonates, possibly dating back to the Permian.

scholarly journals Sperm removal during copulation confirmed in the oldest extant damselfly, Hemiphlebia mirabilis

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo Cordero-Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Short Range ◽  
Body Position ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Scramble Competition ◽  
Stage I ◽  
Female Genitalia ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Two Stages

Postcopulatory sexual selection may favour mechanisms to reduce sperm competition, like physical sperm removal by males. To investigate the origin of sperm removal, I studied the reproductive behaviour and mechanisms of sperm competition in the only living member of the oldest damselfly family, Hemiphlebia mirabilis, one species that was considered extinct in the 1980s. This species displays scramble competition behaviour, whose males search for females with short flights and both sexes exhibit a conspicuous “abdominal flicking”. This behaviour is used by males during an elaborate precopulatory courtship, unique among the Odonata. Females use a similar display to reject male attempts to form tandem, but eventually signal receptivity by a particular body position. Males immobilise females during courtship using their legs, which, contrarily to other damselflies, never autotomize. Copulation is short (range 4.1-18.7 min), and has two stages. In the first stage, males remove part of the stored sperm, and inseminate during the second stage, at the end of mating. The examination of genitalia indicates that males have two horns covered by back-oriented spines, which match the size and form of female genitalia. The volume of sperm in females after copulation was 2.8 times larger than the volume stored in females whose copulation was interrupted at the end of stage I, indicative of a significant sperm removal. These results point out that sperm removal is an old character in the evolution of odonates, probably dating back to the Permian.

Examples of Male Mate Choice

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-80
Author(s):  
Ingo Schlupp
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Choice ◽  
Female Fecundity ◽  
Female Quality ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
Different Levels

In this chapter, what interests me most is how often male mate choice has already been documented, independent of the underlying mechanism. I am not concerned with the origin of the description: some authors express some degree of surprise that they found male preferences; other studies are motivated by theory. I also want to highlight that there is a continuum from no male contribution to the offspring to male contributions that are larger than the female contribution. Furthermore, there are differences in female quality at different levels, which can contribute to the evolution of male choice. There are many studies that infer differences in female fecundity as underlying male choice, but females can differ in many more aspects—just like males.

scholarly journals Male mate choice, male quality, and the potential for sexual selection on female traits under polygyny

Evolution ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney L. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Maria R. Servedio
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Male Mate

Female Virtual Intrasexual Competition and Its Consequences

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose C. Yong ◽  
Norman P. Li ◽  
Katherine A. Valentine ◽  
April R. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Physical Attractiveness ◽  
Deep Level ◽  
Intrasexual Competition ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Real People ◽  
Key Dimensions

Intrasexual competition is a key component of sexual selection. Evolutionarily, women compete for access to and retention of mates on key dimensions that men have evolved to value and prioritize in their long- and short-term mates, in particular physical attractiveness. Such competition evolved to be adaptive in ancestral environments as the perceived competition consisted of real individuals. However, underlying psychological mechanisms for competition are excessively triggered and more continuously engaged in modern environments, because these psychological mechanisms for social comparison and competition, at a deep level, do not differentiate between real people and imagined intrasexual competition in the form of mass media images. Utilizing an evolutionary mismatch framework, this chapter explores ways that women are psychologically influenced by the pervasive presence of virtual same-sex competitors for mates. Various negative psychological states in modern societies (e.g., depression, eating disorders) may be linked to virtual intrasexual competition.

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