Sexual Selection and Sexual Dimorphism in Mottled Sculpins

AbstractA well-known property of sexual selection combined with a cross sex genetic correlation (rmf), is that it can facilitate a peak shift on the adaptive landscape. How do these diversifying effects of sexual selection +rmf balance with the constraints imposed by such sexual antagonism, to affect macroevolution of sexual dimorphism? Here, I extend existing quantitative genetic models of evolution on complex adaptive landscapes. Beyond recovering classical predictions for the conditions promoting a peak shift, I show that when rmf is moderate to strong, relatively weak sexual selection is required to induce a peak shift in males only. Increasing the strength of sexual leads to a sexually-concordant peak shift, suggesting that macroevolutionary rates of sexual dimorphism may be largely decoupled from the strength of within-population sexual selection. Accounting explicitly for demography further reveals that sex-specific peak shifts may be more likely to be successful than concordant shifts in the face of extinction, especially when natural selection is strong. An overarching conclusion is that macroevolutionary patterns of sexual dimorphism are unlikely to be readily explained by within-population estimates of selection or constraint alone.

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Sex ratio and sexual selection in wormshrimps (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Ingolfiellidea)

Contributions to Zoology ◽

10.1163/18759866-0750304007 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 75 (03-04) ◽

pp. 189-194 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ronald Vonk ◽

Vincent Nijman

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Habitat Use ◽

Individual Species ◽

Small Populations ◽

Secondary Sexual Characters ◽

Elusive Species ◽

The Individual ◽

Secondary Sexual

Small populations of several species of the groundwater dwelling amphipod genus Ingolfiella are found in caves, wells, seabottoms, beaches and riverbed interstitial habitats. To gain insight in the socio-ecology of these elusive species, we used data from collected specimens to explore the relationships between sexratios, display of secondary sexual characters and other morphological features, and habitat use. We extracted data on the sex ratios and the presence-absence of secondary sexual characters of 13 species from the literature and through examination of museum material. We found a clearly skewed sex ratio with a preponderance of females, both in the individual species as in the genus as a whole. However, sex ratio and the display of secondary sexual characters were not correlated, nor did these characters correlate with the amount of sexual dimorphism. It remains unknown why so many ingolfiellids have evolved these costly features.

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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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Habitat, Sexual and Allometric Influences on Morphological Traits of Intertidal Crabs

Estuaries and Coasts ◽

10.1007/s12237-020-00856-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

P. Vermeiren ◽

C. Lennard ◽

C. Trave

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Morphological Variation ◽

Morphological Traits ◽

Low Cost ◽

Habitat Preferences ◽

Mangrove Crab ◽

Habitat Factors ◽

Specific Factors ◽

Claw Shape

Abstract Intertidal crabs display distinct morphological traits that allow differential interactions with biotic and abiotic features of the intertidal landscape, but are also influenced by allometry and sexual selection. This study aimed to explore the influence of sexual, allometric and habitat factors on morphological variation in the intertidal mangrove crab assemblage. A standardized photographic protocol was developed using readily available, low-cost technology to capture the morphology of carapaces and claws as sets of Cartesian landmarks. Digitization errors were 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the variation among individuals. In Tubuca seismella and Tubuca signata (superfamily Ocypodoidea), species that have traditionally been studied for sexual dimorphism, standardized major claw sizes were 2.8 and 3.7, respectively, times larger for males than females. Sexual dimorphism in claw size was also observed for Metopograpsus frontalis and Parasesarma longicristatum (superfamily Grapsoidea), with the largest claw in males being 15% and 33%, respectively, larger than in females. In contrast to size, claw shape did not relate to sex, except for T. seismella. Carapace shape, although variable among individuals and displaying asymmetry, was unrelated to sex. Claw and carapace shapes displayed high correlations, with values around 0.78. Carapace shapes grouped into taxonomic families and linked to habitat preferences, while claw shapes varied along a taxonomic gradient. These results complement studies on crab morphology that focus on specific factors or species, and stress the importance of multiple, interacting factors including sexual, allometric and habitat influences as drivers of morphological trait variability.

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Sexual dimorphism of the major chela and sex ratio as indicators of the mating system in the estuarine snapping shrimp Alpheus colombiensis Wicksten, 1988 (Decapoda: Caridea: Alpheidae)

Journal of Crustacean Biology ◽

10.1093/jcbiol/ruaa069 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 649-656

Author(s):

Juan C Azofeifa-Solano ◽

Jeffrey A Sibaja-Cordero ◽

Ingo S Wehrtmann

Keyword(s):

Sexual Selection ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Mating System ◽

Mate Guarding ◽

Female Size ◽

Monogamous Species ◽

Low Degree ◽

Adult Sex Ratio ◽

Snapping Shrimps

Abstract The sexual selection over traits that favor access to mating partners could promote the emergence of sexual dimorphism when the pressure is different between sexes. Monogamous species are considered to have a low degree of sexual dimorphism. The highly diverse snapping shrimps are usually regarded as monogamous, but the mating system has been studied only in few species. We aimed to provide insights into the mating system and sexual dimorphism of Alpheus colombiensisWicksten, 1988. The adult sex ratio was female biased, and solitary ovigerous females were found, suggesting a temporary mate guarding type of mating system. Our results also revealed sexual dimorphism on the snapping claw, which is larger in males than in females. The male’s snapping claw is probably under sexual selection, which can be mediated by male-male competition or female choice. We also estimated the A. colombiensis female size at maturity at 5.2 ± 0.76 mm. Our results contradict the common idea that snapping shrimps are monogamous species, and support that A. colombiensis probably have a temporary mate guarding (e.g., males can sexually interact with more than one female, in opposition to sexual monogamy). This study also sustains the growing evidence that alpheid shrimps display snapping claw sexual dimorphism.

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