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Fritzsche K, Henshaw JM, Johnson BD, Jones AG. The 150th anniversary of The Descent of Man: Darwin and the impact of sex-role reversal on sexual selection research. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The year 2021 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s extraordinary book The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Here, we review the history and impact of a single profound insight from The Descent of Man: that, in some few species, females rather than males compete for access to mates. In other words, these species are ‘sex-role reversed’ with respect to mating competition and sexual selection compared to the majority of species in which sexual selection acts most strongly on males. Over the subsequent 150 years, sex-role-reversed species have motivated multiple key conceptual breakthroughs in sexual selection. The surprising mating dynamics of such species challenged scientists’ preconceptions, forcing them to examine implicit assumptions and stereotypes. This wider worldview has led to a richer and more nuanced understanding of animal mating systems and, in particular, to a proper appreciation for the fundamental role that females play in shaping these systems. Sex-role-reversed species have considerable untapped potential and will continue to contribute to sexual selection research in the decades to come.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karoline Fritzsche
- Institute of Biology I, University of Freiburg, Hauptstraße 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jonathan M Henshaw
- Institute of Biology I, University of Freiburg, Hauptstraße 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Adam G Jones
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA
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Lopes CF, Stefanello F, Bugs C, Stenert C, Maltchik L, Ribeiro JRI. Sexual dimorphism in Belostoma angustum Lauck (Insecta: Heteroptera: Belostomatidae) may be related to paternal care. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The structures involved in parental care are often dimorphic. Female Belostoma angustum water bugs lay eggs on the hemelytra of their mates, where the eggs are brooded until hatching. Males use their hind legs to carry, aerate and protect the eggs. After controlling for covariance between variables, we fitted a series of structural equation models (SEMs) and evaluated the existence of sexual dimorphism in the size of the body and hind legs, in the shape and centroid size of the hemelytrum, and among the static allometry slopes of the size-related differences. Landmarks were used to capture phenotypic variation, by eliminating all non-shape variations with a Procrustes superimposition. Neither the shape of the hemelytrum nor its centroid size was related significantly to the aforementioned linear body measurements. Instead, the differences in the size of the hind legs were mediated by body dimensions only in males. We also found that males were wider and had longer heads than females, according to the SEM intercept values. Our findings suggest that sexual dimorphism in B. angustum may be related to a balance between sexual role reversal and viability costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassiane Furlan Lopes
- Laboratório de Estudos da Biodiversidade do Pampa (LEBIP), Universidade Federal do Pampa, Campus São Gabriel, São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil
| | - Fabiano Stefanello
- Laboratório de Biologia Comparada e Abelhas, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Christian Bugs
- Laboratório de Estudos da Biodiversidade do Pampa (LEBIP), Universidade Federal do Pampa, Campus São Gabriel, São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil
| | - Cristina Stenert
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação de Ecossistemas Aquáticos, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Av. Unisinos, Cristo Rei, São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Maltchik
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação de Ecossistemas Aquáticos, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Av. Unisinos, Cristo Rei, São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil
| | - José Ricardo Inacio Ribeiro
- Laboratório de Estudos da Biodiversidade do Pampa (LEBIP), Universidade Federal do Pampa, Campus São Gabriel, São Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil
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Hare RM, Simmons LW. Sexual selection and its evolutionary consequences in female animals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018; 94:929-956. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2018] [Revised: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 11/02/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robin M. Hare
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, 6009 Australia
| | - Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, 6009 Australia
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Ohba SY, Okuda N, Kudo SI. Sexual selection of male parental care in giant water bugs. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:150720. [PMID: 27293778 PMCID: PMC4892440 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2015] [Accepted: 04/01/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Paternal care can be maintained under sexual selection, if it helps in attracting more mates. We tested the hypothesis in two giant water bug species, Appasus major and Appasus japonicus, that male parental care is sexually selected through female preference for caring males. Females were given an opportunity to choose between two males. In the first test of female mate choice, one male carried eggs on its back, while the other did not. The egg status was switched between these two males in the second test. The experiment revealed that females of both species preferred caring males (i.e. egg-bearing) to non-caring males. Nonetheless, the female mate preference for egg-bearing males was stronger in A. major than in A. japonicus. Our results suggest that sexual selection plays an important role in maintaining elaborate paternal care in giant water bugs, but the importance of egg-bearing by males in female mate choice varies among species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shin-ya Ohba
- Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu 520-2113, Japan
| | - Noboru Okuda
- Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Otsu 520-2113, Japan
| | - Shin-ichi Kudo
- Department of Biology, Naruto University of Education, Naruto, Tokushima 772-8502, Japan
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Abstract
In most animals, males are the competitive sex whereas females are typically non-competitive and choosy of mates. In a variety of taxa, certain species (or populations within species) show a reversal in these typical courtship roles. Recent research with these organisms supports a central tenet of sexual selection theory: that it is the relative investment of the sexes in offspring that controls the number of males and females available for mating, and thus is the main determinant of the degree of sexual competition in each sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- D T Gwynne
- Zoology Dept, Erindale Campus, University of Toronto, Missisauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
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Munguía-Steyer R, Macías-Ordóñez R. Is it risky to be a father? Survival assessment depending on sex and parental status in the water bug Abedus breviceps using multistate modelling. CAN J ZOOL 2007. [DOI: 10.1139/z06-196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
We carried out a capture–recapture multistate modelling approach to estimate survival and recapture probabilities and transition rates between parental and nonparental status in an adult wild population of the water bug Abedus breviceps Stål, 1862 (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae). The global model included the following parameters: sex, male parental status (brooding or not), and transience (individual’s permanent movement from the site after first capture). Models were selected by means of the information-theory paradigm. The best supported model shows no difference in survival between males and females regardless of male parental status. Thus, the frequently assumed cost of parental care in terms of survival is not supported by our data. Furthermore, during the study, male expected adult life span in the wild was lower than the time needed to brood a batch of eggs from oviposition to hatching. We discuss potential consequences of such a short male expected adult life span in terms of parental behaviour decision rules related to fitness maximization.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Munguía-Steyer
- Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Apartado Postal 63, Xalapa, Veracruz 91000, Mexico
| | - R. Macías-Ordóñez
- Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Apartado Postal 63, Xalapa, Veracruz 91000, Mexico
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Male ornamentation and its condition-dependence in a paternal mouthbrooding cardinalfish with extraordinary sex roles. J ETHOL 2003. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-002-0091-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Okuda N. Sex Roles Are Not Always Reversed When the Potential Reproductive Rate Is Higher in Females. Am Nat 1999; 153:540-548. [DOI: 10.1086/303196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Operational sex ratios and behavioural sex differences in a pipefish population. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 1994. [DOI: 10.1007/bf00167335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Ichikawa N. Repeated copulations benefit of the female inLethocerus deyrollei vuillefroy (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae). J ETHOL 1989. [DOI: 10.1007/bf02350032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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