Sexual Selection for Increased Male Courtship and Acoustic Signals and against Large Male Size at Sharp-Tailed Grouse Leks

Evolution ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Gratson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Acoustic Signals ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Selection For

scholarly journals Phylogenetic Evidence for the Gain and Loss of a Sexually Selected Trait in Sailfin Mollies

ISRN Zoology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret B. Ptacek ◽  
Michael J. Childress ◽  
Jennifer A. Petersen ◽  
Anne O. Tomasso
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Character State ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Ancestral Character State ◽  
Sailfin Molly ◽  
Monophyletic Lineage ◽  
Sailfin Mollies

A phylogenetic comparative approach was used to examine the evolution of the enlarged “sailfin,” characteristic of the monophyletic lineage of sailfin mollies (Poecilia: Mollienesia), but absent in one of its species, P. latipunctata. Ancestral character state reconstructions demonstrated that the ancestral sailfin molly possessed the enlarged sailfin, and, thus, males of P. latipunctata have secondarily lost this trait. The strength of female mating preference was measured in P. latipunctata for two known targets of sexual selection, large male size, and sailfin male phenotype. Females of P. latipunctata preferred conspecific males of larger body size to those of smaller body size, but showed no preference for sailfin males of a related species, P. velifera, when compared with males of the shortfin species, P. mexicana. Taken together, these results suggest that the targets of sexual selection may have shifted in this species and that reduction in female preference for sailfin males may have played a role in the loss of this ornament.

scholarly journals Does divergence in female mate choice affect male size distributions in two cave fish populations?

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 452-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Tobler ◽  
Ingo Schlupp ◽  
Martin Plath
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Female Preference ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Male Body ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Female Mate

Sexual selection by female choice can maintain male traits that are counter selected by natural selection. Alteration of the potential for sexual selection can thus lead to shifts in the expression of male traits. We investigated female mate choice for large male body size in a fish ( Poecilia mexicana ) that, besides surface streams, also inhabits two caves. All four populations investigated, exhibited an ancestral visual preference for large males. However, only one of the cave populations also expressed this female preference in darkness. Hence, the lack of expression of female preference in darkness in the other cave population leads to relaxation of sexual selection for large male body size. While P. mexicana populations with size-specific female mate choice are characterized by a pronounced male size variation, the absence of female choice in one cave coincides with the absence of large bodied males in that population. Our results suggest that population differences in the potential for sexual selection may affect male trait variation.

scholarly journals Selection for increased male size predicts variation in sexual size dimorphism among fish species

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1918) ◽  
pp. 20192640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curtis R. Horne ◽  
Andrew G. Hirst ◽  
David Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Sexual Size Dimorphism ◽  
Male Competition ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Male Size ◽  
Size Dimorphism ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
Selection For

Variation in the degree of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) among taxa is generally considered to arise from differences in the relative intensity of male–male competition and fecundity selection. One might predict, therefore, that SSD will vary systematically with (1) the intensity of sexual selection for increased male size, and (2) the intensity of fecundity selection for increased female size. To test these two fundamental hypotheses, we conducted a phylogenetic comparative analysis of SSD in fish. Specifically, using records of body length at first sexual maturity from FishBase, we quantified variation in the magnitude and direction of SSD in more than 600 diverse freshwater and marine fish species, from sticklebacks to sharks. Although female-biased SSD was common, and thought to be driven primarily by fecundity selection, variation in SSD was not dependent on either the allometric scaling of reproductive energy output or fecundity in female fish. Instead, systematic patterns based on habitat and life-history characteristics associated with varying degrees of male–male competition and paternal care strongly suggest that adaptive variation in SSD is driven by the intensity of sexual selection for increased male size.

Size does not matter for male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum)

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (10) ◽  
pp. 735-740
Author(s):  
D.A. Croshaw ◽  
J.H.K. Pechmann
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Ambystoma Opacum ◽  
Positive Assortative Mating ◽  
Important Trait ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
Gravid Females

Understanding the phenotypic attributes that contribute to variance in mating and reproductive success is crucial in the study of evolution by sexual selection. In many animals, body size is an important trait because larger individuals enjoy greater fitness due to the ability to secure more mates and produce more offspring. Among males, this outcome is largely mediated by greater success in competition with rival males and (or) advantages in attractiveness to females. Here we tested the hypothesis that large male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst, 1807)) mate with more females and produce more offspring than small males. In experimental breeding groups, we included males chosen specifically to represent a range of sizes. After gravid females mated and nested freely, we collected egg clutches and genotyped all adults and samples of hatchlings with highly variable microsatellite markers to assign paternity. Size had little effect on male mating and reproductive success. Breeding males were not bigger than nonbreeding males, mates of polyandrous females were not smaller than those of monogamous females, and there was no evidence for positive assortative mating by size. Although body size did not matter for male Marbled Salamanders, we documented considerable fitness variation and discuss alternative traits that could be undergoing sexual selection.

scholarly journals Losses of female song with changes from tropical to temperate breeding in the New World blackbirds

2009 ◽  
Vol 276 (1664) ◽  
pp. 1971-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jordan Price ◽  
Scott M. Lanyon ◽  
Kevin E. Omland
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
New World ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Complex Song ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Apparent Relationship ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Tropics

Birds in which both sexes produce complex songs are thought to be more common in the tropics than in temperate areas, where typically only males sing. Yet the role of phylogeny in this apparent relationship between female song and latitude has never been examined. Here, we reconstruct evolutionary changes in female song and breeding latitude in the New World blackbirds (Icteridae), a family with both temperate and tropical representatives. We provide strong evidence that members of this group have moved repeatedly from tropical to temperate breeding ranges and, furthermore, that these range shifts were associated with losses of female song more often than expected by chance. This historical perspective suggests that male-biased song production in many temperate species is the result not of sexual selection for complex song in males but of selection against such songs in females. Our results provide new insights into the differences we see today between tropical and temperate songbirds, and suggest that the role of sexual selection in the evolution of bird song might not be as simple as we think.

Sexual Selection for Male Sacrifice in the Australian Redback Spider

Science ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (5245) ◽  
pp. 70-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. B. Andrade
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Selection For
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