Evolution of egg dummies in Tanganyikan cichlid fishes: the roles of parental care and sexual selection

Explaining the evolution of male care has proved difficult. Recent theory predicts that female promiscuity and sexual selection on males inherently disfavour male care. In sharp contrast to these expectations, male-only care is often found in species with high extra-pair paternity and striking variation in mating success, where current theory predicts female-only care. Using a model that examines the coevolution of male care, female care and female choice; I show that inter-sexual selection can drive the evolution of male care when females are able to bias mating or paternity towards parental males. Surprisingly, female choice for parental males allows male care to evolve despite low relatedness between the male and the offspring in his care. These results imply that predicting how sexual selection affects parental care evolution will require further understanding of why females, in many species, either do not prefer or cannot favour males that provide care.

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Parental Care and Sexual Selection

Fish Behaviour ◽

10.1201/b10757-13 ◽

2008 ◽

pp. 377-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Kai Lindström ◽

Colette Mary

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Parental Care

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The evolution of sexual dimorphism in parasitic cuckoos: sexual selection or coevolution?

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2007.0281 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 274 (1617) ◽

pp. 1553-1560 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

O Krüger ◽

N.B Davies ◽

M.D Sorenson

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Parental Care ◽

Brood Parasitism ◽

Selection Pressure ◽

Life Histories ◽

Exceptional Case ◽

Evolutionary Pathways ◽

Common Situation

Sexual dimorphism is ubiquitous in animals and can result from selection pressure on one or both sexes. Sexual selection has become the predominant explanation for the evolution of sexual dimorphism, with strong selection on size-related mating success in males being the most common situation. The cuckoos (family Cuculidae) provide an exceptional case in which both sexes of many species are freed from the burden of parental care but where coevolution between parasitic cuckoos and their hosts also results in intense selection. Here, we show that size and plumage differences between the sexes in parasitic cuckoos are more likely the result of coevolution than sexual selection. While both sexes changed in size as brood parasitism evolved, we find no evidence for selection on males to become larger. Rather, our analysis indicates stronger selection on parasitic females to become smaller, resulting in a shift from dimorphism with larger females in cuckoos with parental care to dimorphism with larger males in parasitic species. In addition, the evolution of brood parasitism was associated with more cryptic plumage in both sexes, but especially in females, a result that contrasts with the strong plumage dimorphism seen in some other parasitic birds. Examination of the three independent origins of brood parasitism suggests that different parasitic cuckoo lineages followed divergent evolutionary pathways to successful brood parasitism. These results argue for the powerful role of parasite–host coevolution in shaping cuckoo life histories in general and sexual dimorphism in particular.

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Parental Care, Sexual Selection, and Mating Systems in Neotropical Poison Frogs

Sexual Selection ◽

10.1016/b978-0-12-416028-6.00011-6 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 289-320 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Kyle Summers ◽

James Tumulty

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Parental Care ◽

Mating Systems ◽

Poison Frogs

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Positive feedback and alternative stable states in inbreeding, cooperation, sex roles and other evolutionary processes

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2011.0177 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 367 (1586) ◽

pp. 211-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Jussi Lehtonen ◽

Hanna Kokko

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Parental Care ◽

Positive Feedback ◽

Alternative Stable States ◽

Operational Sex Ratio ◽

Evolution Of Cooperation ◽

Systems Science ◽

Stable States ◽

Uniparental Care ◽

The Relationship

A large proportion of studies in systems science focus on processes involving a mixture of positive and negative feedbacks, which are also common themes in evolutionary ecology. Examples of negative feedback are density dependence (population regulation) and frequency-dependent selection (polymorphisms). Positive feedback, in turn, plays a role in Fisherian ‘runaway’ sexual selection, the evolution of cooperation, selfing and inbreeding tolerance under purging of deleterious alleles, and the evolution of sex differences in parental care. All these examples feature self-reinforcing processes where the increase in the value of a trait selects for further increases, sometimes via a coevolutionary feedback loop with another trait. Positive feedback often leads to alternative stable states (evolutionary endpoints), making the interpretation of evolutionary predictions challenging. Here, we discuss conceptual issues such as the relationship between self-reinforcing selection and disruptive selection. We also present an extension of a previous model on parental care, focusing on the relationship between the operational sex ratio and sexual selection, and the influence of this relationship on the evolution of biparental or uniparental care.

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