1
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Fry JD. A reformulation of Fisher's runaway identifies the heritability of mate choices as a key parameter and highlights limitations of the hypothesis. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232366. [PMID: 38264777 PMCID: PMC10806399 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Fisher proposed that female preference for mates with extreme traits could evolve as an essentially arbitrary outcome of a self-reinforcing process. Although Fisher's runaway has been shown to be a theoretical possibility, it is not clear whether it occurs in real populations, in part because existing models express the necessary conditions in terms of parameters that would be nearly impossible to estimate in the wild. Here, I reformulate models of the runaway in terms of two estimable parameters, the heritability and phenotypic variance of realized mate choices. Higher values of both quantities make the runaway more likely. In the most realistic model considered, in which mate choices are based on a mixture of absolute and relative criteria, a runaway cannot occur unless mate choice increases the variance of the male trait, which seems incompatible with the strong directional mating preferences typically observed in polygynous species. Even in the most favourable case for the runaway, purely relative preference without direct selection on preference, a substantial heritability of realized mate choices would be required if there is moderately strong stabilizing selection on the male trait. These results cast some doubt on whether the runaway is a plausible outcome in natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- James D. Fry
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
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2
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Hill GE, Weaver RJ, Powers MJ. Carotenoid ornaments and the spandrels of physiology: a critique of theory to explain condition dependency. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:2320-2332. [PMID: 37563787 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
Even as numerous studies have documented that the red and yellow coloration resulting from the deposition of carotenoids serves as an honest signal of condition, the evolution of condition dependency is contentious. The resource trade-off hypothesis proposes that condition-dependent honest signalling relies on a trade-off of resources between ornamental display and body maintenance. By this model, condition dependency can evolve through selection for a re-allocation of resources to promote ornament expression. By contrast, the index hypothesis proposes that selection focuses mate choice on carotenoid coloration that is inherently condition dependent because production of such coloration is inexorably tied to vital cellular processes. These hypotheses for the origins of condition dependency make strongly contrasting and testable predictions about ornamental traits. To assess these two models, we review the mechanisms of production of carotenoids, patterns of condition dependency involving different classes of carotenoids, and patterns of behavioural responses to carotenoid coloration. We review evidence that traits can be condition dependent without the influence of sexual selection and that novel traits can show condition-dependent expression as soon as they appear in a population, without the possibility of sexual selection. We conclude by highlighting new opportunities for studying condition-dependent signalling made possible by genetic manipulation and expression of ornamental traits in synthetic biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey E Hill
- Department of Biological Sciences, 120 W. Samford Avenue, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA
| | - Ryan J Weaver
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, 2200 Osborne Drive, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Matthew J Powers
- Department of Integrative Biology, 4575 SW Research Way, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
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3
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Goumas M. Dark wing pigmentation as a mechanism for improved flight efficiency in the Larinae. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1205. [PMID: 36414754 PMCID: PMC9681726 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04144-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There are many hypotheses explaining the diversity of colours and patterns found in nature, but they are often difficult to examine empirically. Recent studies show the dark upperside of gliding birds' wings could reduce drag by decreasing the density of surrounding air. It may therefore be expected that species with darker wings have less efficient morphology than their paler counterparts. I conducted an analysis of the Larinae (gulls), which exhibit extreme variation in wing (mantle and wingtip) melanization, to test whether wing loading is a predictor of wing darkness. I found that, for each standard deviation increase in wing loading, mantle darkness is predicted to increase by 1.2 shades on the Kodak grey scale. Wing loading is also positively related to the proportion of black on wingtips. Furthermore, heavier species have lower aspect ratio wings, suggesting that dark wings have evolved to improve the trade-off between maneuverability and long distance flight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Goumas
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation University of Exeter, Penryn, UK.
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4
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Anderson NK, Gururaja KV, Mangiamele LA, Netoskie EC, Smith S, Fuxjager MJ, Preininger D. Insight into the Evolution of Anuran Foot Flag Displays: A Comparative Study of Color and Kinematics. ICHTHYOLOGY & HERPETOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1643/h2020160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nigel K. Anderson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912; (NKA) ; and (MJF) . Send reprint requests to NKA
| | - K. V. Gururaja
- Research and Development Center and Science Media Center, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Gubbi Labs, Bengaluru 560012, India;
| | - Lisa A. Mangiamele
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 01063; (LAM) ; and (SS)
| | - Erin C. Netoskie
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania 16652;
| | - Sarah Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 01063; (LAM) ; and (SS)
| | - Matthew J. Fuxjager
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912; (NKA) ; and (MJF) . Send reprint requests to NKA
| | - Doris Preininger
- Vienna Zoo, 1130 Vienna, Austria; Department of Evolutionary Biology, University Vienna, Austria;
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5
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Cargnelutti F, Reyes Ramírez A, Cristancho S, Sandoval‐García IA, Rocha‐Ortega M, Calbacho‐Rosa L, Palacino F, Córdoba‐Aguilar A. Condition-dependent male copulatory courtship and its benefits for females. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:9848-9855. [PMID: 34306667 PMCID: PMC8293791 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Postcopulatory sexual selection has shaped the ornaments used during copulatory courtship. However, we know relatively little about whether these courtship ornaments are costly to produce or whether they provide indirect benefits to females. We used the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, to explore this. We challenged males using an entomopathogenic fungus and compared their courtship (frequency of leg and antennal contacts to the female), copulation duration, number of eggs laid, and hatching rate against control males. Infected males copulated for longer yet they reduced their leg and antennal contacts compared to control males. However, there was no obvious relation between infection, copulation duration, and courtship with egg production and hatching success. In general, our results indicate that the ornaments used during postcopulatory courtship are condition-dependent. Moreover, such condition dependence cannot be linked to male fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franco Cargnelutti
- Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y EcologíaFacultad de Ciencias ExactasFísicas y NaturalesUniversidad Nacional de CórdobaCórdobaArgentina
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y EvoluciónConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA)CórdobaArgentina
| | - Alicia Reyes Ramírez
- Departamento de Ecología EvolutivaInstituto de EcologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoCoyoacánMéxico
| | - Shara Cristancho
- Grupo de Investigación en Odonatos de Colombia (GINOCO)Grupo de Investigación en Biología (GRIB)Centro de Investigación en AcarologíaDepartamento de BiologíaUniversidad El BosqueBogotáColombia
| | - Iván A. Sandoval‐García
- Departamento de Ecología EvolutivaInstituto de EcologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoCoyoacánMéxico
| | - Maya Rocha‐Ortega
- Departamento de Ecología EvolutivaInstituto de EcologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoCoyoacánMéxico
| | - Lucía Calbacho‐Rosa
- Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y EcologíaFacultad de Ciencias ExactasFísicas y NaturalesUniversidad Nacional de CórdobaCórdobaArgentina
- Laboratorio de Biología Reproductiva y EvoluciónConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA)CórdobaArgentina
| | - Freddy Palacino
- Grupo de Investigación en Odonatos de Colombia (GINOCO)Grupo de Investigación en Biología (GRIB)Centro de Investigación en AcarologíaDepartamento de BiologíaUniversidad El BosqueBogotáColombia
| | - Alex Córdoba‐Aguilar
- Departamento de Ecología EvolutivaInstituto de EcologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoCoyoacánMéxico
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6
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Beltrán DF, Shultz AJ, Parra JL. Speciation rates are positively correlated with the rate of plumage color evolution in hummingbirds. Evolution 2021; 75:1665-1680. [PMID: 34037257 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
A fascinating pattern in nature is the uneven distribution of biodiversity among clades, some with low species richness and phenotypic variation in contrast to others with remarkable species richness and phenotypic diversity. In animals, communication signals are crucial for intra- and interspecific interactions and are likely an important factor in speciation. However, evidence for the association between the evolution of such signals and speciation is mixed. In hummingbirds, plumage coloration is an important communication signal, particularly for mate selection. Here, using reflectance data for 237 hummingbird species (∼66% of total diversity), we demonstrate that color evolution rates are associated with speciation rates, and that differences among feather patches are consistent with an interplay between natural and sexual selection. We found that female color evolution rates of multiple plumage elements, including the gorget, were similar to those of males. Although male color evolution in this patch was associated with speciation, female gorget color evolution was not. In other patches, the relationship between speciation and color evolution rates was pervasive between sexes. We anticipate that future studies on animal communication will likely find that evolution of signaling traits of both sexes has played a vital role in generating signal and species diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego F Beltrán
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, 050010, Colombia.,Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA
| | - Allison J Shultz
- Ornithology Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, 90007, USA
| | - Juan L Parra
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, 050010, Colombia
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7
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Somjee U. Positive allometry of sexually selected traits: Do metabolic maintenance costs play an important role? Bioessays 2021; 43:e2000183. [PMID: 33950569 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202000183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Sexual selection drives the evolution of some of the most exaggerated traits in nature. Studies on sexual selection often focus on the size of these traits relative to body size, but few focus on energetic maintenance costs of the tissues that compose them, and the ways in which these costs vary with body size. The relationships between energy use and body size have consequences that may allow large individuals to invest disproportionally more in sexually selected structures, or lead to the reduced per-gram maintenance cost of enlarged structures. Although sexually selected traits can incur energetic maintenance costs, these costs are not universally high; they are dependent on the relative mass and metabolic activity of tissues associated with them. Energetic costs of maintenance may play a pervasive yet little-explored role in shaping the relative scaling of sexually selected traits across diverse taxa. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/JyuoQIeA33Q.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ummat Somjee
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
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8
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McCoy DE, Shultz AJ, Vidoudez C, van der Heide E, Dall JE, Trauger SA, Haig D. Microstructures amplify carotenoid plumage signals in tanagers. Sci Rep 2021; 11:8582. [PMID: 33883641 PMCID: PMC8060279 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88106-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Brilliantly-colored birds are a model system for research into evolution and sexual selection. Red, orange, and yellow carotenoid-colored plumages have been considered honest signals of condition; however, sex differences in feather pigments and microstructures are not well understood. Here, we show that microstructures, rather than carotenoid pigments, seem to be a major driver of male-female color differences in the social, sexually-dimorphic tanager genus Ramphocelus. We comprehensively quantified feather (i) color (using spectrophotometry), (ii) pigments (using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)), and (iii) microstructures (using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) optical modeling). Males have significantly more saturated color patches than females. However, our exploratory analysis of pigments suggested that males and females have concordant carotenoid pigment profiles across all species (MCMCglmm model, female:male ratio = 0.95). Male, but not female, feathers have elaborate microstructures which amplify color appearance. Oblong, expanded feather barbs in males enhance color saturation (for the same amount of pigment) by increasing the transmission of optical power through the feather. Dihedral barbules (vertically-angled, strap-shaped barbules) in males reduce total reflectance to generate "super black" and "velvet red" plumage. Melanin in females explains some, but not all, of the male-female plumage differences. Our results suggest that a widely cited index of honesty, carotenoid pigments, cannot fully explain male appearance. We propose that males are selected to evolve amplifiers-in this case, microstructures that enhance appearance-that are not necessarily themselves linked to quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dakota E McCoy
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
| | - Allison J Shultz
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Informatics Group, Harvard University, 38 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Ornithology Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Charles Vidoudez
- Harvard Center for Mass Spectrometry, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street (B2), Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Emma van der Heide
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jacqueline E Dall
- Ornithology Department, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA
| | - Sunia A Trauger
- Harvard Center for Mass Spectrometry, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street (B2), Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - David Haig
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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9
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Integumentary Colour Allocation in the Stork Family (Ciconiidae) Reveals Short-Range Visual Cues for Species Recognition. BIRDS 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/birds2010010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The family Ciconiidae comprises 19 extant species which are highly social when nesting and foraging. All species share similar morphotypes, with long necks, a bill, and legs, and are mostly coloured in the achromatic spectrum (white, black, black, and white, or shades of grey). Storks may have, however, brightly coloured integumentary areas in, for instance, the bill, legs, or the eyes. These chromatic patches are small in surface compared with the whole body. We have analyzed the conservatism degree of colouration in 10 body areas along an all-species stork phylogeny derived from BirdTRee using Geiger models. We obtained low conservatism in frontal areas (head and neck), contrasting with a high conservatism in the rest of the body. The frontal areas tend to concentrate the chromatic spectrum whereas the rear areas, much larger in surface, are basically achromatic. These results lead us to suggest that the divergent evolution of the colouration of frontal areas is related to species recognition through visual cue assessment in the short-range, when storks form mixed-species flocks in foraging or resting areas.
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10
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Physiological costs and age constraints of a sexual ornament: an experimental study in a wild bird. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Sexual ornaments are often considered honest signals of quality because potential costs or constraints prevent their display by low-quality individuals. Testing for potential physiological costs of ornaments is difficult, as this requires experimentally forcing individuals to produce and display elaborate ornaments. We use this approach to test whether a sexually selected trait is physiologically costly to male superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus). Male fairy-wrens molt from brown to blue breeding plumage at different times of the year, and females strongly prefer the few males that are blue early, during winter. We used short-acting testosterone implants to stimulate males to produce “early-blue” plumage and assessed costs during and after molt using a panel of physiological indices. Testosterone-implanted, T-males molted in winter and produced blue plumage 6 weeks before control-implanted, C-males. T-males molted while in lower body condition, tended to have lower fat reserves, and were more likely to be parasitized by lice. However, we detected no negative effects on immune function, blood parasites, exposure to stressors, or survival. Juvenile males never naturally display early-blue plumage, but we found no evidence for increased costs paid by juvenile T-males. Instead, juvenile T-males molted later than adult T-males, suggesting that age presents an absolute constraint on ornament exaggeration that cannot be fully overcome by testosterone treatment. Together, these small costs and large, age-related constraints may enforce signal honesty, and explain female preference for early-blue males.
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11
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Wang S, Rohwer S, de Zwaan DR, Toews DPL, Lovette IJ, Mackenzie J, Irwin D. Selection on a small genomic region underpins differentiation in multiple color traits between two warbler species. Evol Lett 2020; 4:502-515. [PMID: 33312686 PMCID: PMC7719548 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 09/20/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Speciation is one of the most important processes in biology, yet the study of the genomic changes underlying this process is in its infancy. North American warbler species Setophaga townsendi and Setophaga occidentalis hybridize in a stable hybrid zone, following a period of geographic separation. Genomic differentiation accumulated during geographic isolation can be homogenized by introgression at secondary contact, whereas genetic regions that cause low hybrid fitness can be shielded from such introgression. Here, we examined the genomic underpinning of speciation by investigating (1) the genetic basis of divergent pigmentation traits between species, (2) variation in differentiation across the genome, and (3) the evidence for selection maintaining differentiation in the pigmentation genes. Using tens of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in hundreds of individuals within and near the hybrid zone, genome-wide association mapping revealed a single SNP associated with cheek, crown, breast coloration, and flank streaking, reflecting pleiotropy (one gene affecting multiple traits) or close physical linkage of different genes affecting different traits. This SNP is within an intron of the RALY gene, hence we refer to it as the RALY SNP. We then examined between-species genomic differentiation, using both genotyping-by-sequencing and whole genome sequencing. We found that the RALY SNP is within one of the highest peaks of differentiation, which contains three genes known to influence pigmentation: ASIP, EIF2S2, and RALY (the ASIP-RALY gene block). Heterozygotes at this gene block are likely of reduced fitness, as the geographic cline of the RALY SNP has been narrow over two decades. Together, these results reflect at least one barrier to gene flow within this narrow (∼200 kb) genomic region that modulates plumage difference between species. Despite extensive gene flow between species across the genome, this study provides evidence that selection on a phenotype-associated genomic region maintains a stable species boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silu Wang
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research CentreUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBCV6T1Z4Canada
| | - Sievert Rohwer
- Department of Biology and Burke MuseumUniversity of WashingtonSeattleWashington98195
| | - Devin R. de Zwaan
- Department of Forest and Conservation SciencesUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBCV6T1Z4Canada
| | - David P. L. Toews
- Department of Biology619 Mueller LaboratoryPennsylvania State UniversityUniversity ParkPennsylvania16802
| | - Irby J. Lovette
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology ProgramCornell Lab of OrnithologyIthacaNew York14850
| | - Jacqueline Mackenzie
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research CentreUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBCV6T1Z4Canada
| | - Darren Irwin
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research CentreUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBCV6T1Z4Canada
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12
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Justyn NM, Callaghan CT, Hill GE. Birds rarely hybridize: A citizen science approach to estimating rates of hybridization in the wild*. Evolution 2020; 74:1216-1223. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Corey T. Callaghan
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental SciencesUNSW Sydney Sydney NSW 2052 Australia
| | - Geoffrey E. Hill
- Department of Biological SciencesAuburn University Auburn Alabama 36849
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13
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Owen MA, Lahti DC. Rapid evolution by sexual selection in a wild, invasive mammal. Evolution 2020; 74:740-748. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Revised: 12/06/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Aaron Owen
- Department of Biology, Queens CollegeCity University of New York 65‐30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing NY 11367
- Graduate Subprogram in Ecology, Evolution, and BehaviorCity University of New York 365 5th Ave. New York NY 10016
| | - David C. Lahti
- Department of Biology, Queens CollegeCity University of New York 65‐30 Kissena Blvd. Flushing NY 11367
- Graduate Subprogram in Ecology, Evolution, and BehaviorCity University of New York 365 5th Ave. New York NY 10016
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14
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McCoy DE, Haig D. Embryo Selection and Mate Choice: Can 'Honest Signals' Be Trusted? Trends Ecol Evol 2020; 35:308-318. [PMID: 32000998 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
When a measure becomes a target, it often ceases to be a good measure - an effect familiar from the declining usefulness of standardized testing in schools. This economic principle also applies to mate choice and, perhaps surprisingly, pregnancy. Just as females screen potential mates under many metrics, human mothers unconsciously screen embryos for quality. 'Examinees' are under intense selection to improve test performance by exaggerating formerly 'honest' signals of quality. Examiners must change their screening criteria to maintain useful information (but cannot abandon old criteria unilaterally). By the resulting 'proxy treadmill', new honest indicators arise while old degraded indicators linger, resulting in trait elaboration and exaggeration. Hormone signals during pregnancy show extreme evolutionary escalation (akin to elaborate mating displays).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dakota E McCoy
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
| | - David Haig
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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15
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Menezes JCT, Santos ESA. Habitat structure drives the evolution of aerial displays in birds. J Anim Ecol 2019; 89:482-493. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- João C. T. Menezes
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Ecologia Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
- BECO do Departamento de Zoologia Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
| | - Eduardo S. A. Santos
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Ecologia Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
- BECO do Departamento de Zoologia Universidade de São Paulo São Paulo Brazil
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16
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Atsumi K, Kishida O, Koizumi I. Visual preference of males for conspecific mates in mutually ornamented fish: possible support for the species recognition hypothesis. J ETHOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-019-00610-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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17
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Sexual selection predicts the rate and direction of colour divergence in a large avian radiation. Nat Commun 2019; 10:1773. [PMID: 30992444 PMCID: PMC6467902 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09859-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual selection is proposed to be a powerful driver of phenotypic evolution in animal systems. At macroevolutionary scales, sexual selection can theoretically drive both the rate and direction of phenotypic evolution, but this hypothesis remains contentious. Here, we find that differences in the rate and direction of plumage colour evolution are predicted by a proxy for sexual selection intensity (plumage dichromatism) in a large radiation of suboscine passerine birds (Tyrannida). We show that rates of plumage evolution are correlated between the sexes, but that sexual selection has a strong positive effect on male, but not female, interspecific divergence rates. Furthermore, we demonstrate that rapid male plumage divergence is biased towards carotenoid-based (red/yellow) colours widely assumed to represent honest sexual signals. Our results highlight the central role of sexual selection in driving avian colour divergence, and reveal the existence of convergent evolutionary responses of animal signalling traits under sexual selection. What factors explain variation in the pace and trajectory of evolutionary divergence between lineages? Here, the authors show that a proxy measure for sexual selection intensity predicts both the rate and direction of plumage colour evolution in a diverse radiation of New World passerine birds.
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Órfão I, Barbosa M, Ojanguren AF, Vicente L, Varela SAM, Magurran AE. Me against who? Male guppies adjust mating behaviour according to their rival’s presence and attractiveness. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Inês Órfão
- CFCUL – Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
- cE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews UK
| | - Miguel Barbosa
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews UK
- CESAM – Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar Universidade de Aveiro Aveiro Portugal
| | - Alfredo F. Ojanguren
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews UK
| | - Luís Vicente
- CFCUL – Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
| | - Susana A. M. Varela
- cE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa Lisboa Portugal
- IGC – Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência Oeiras Portugal
| | - Anne E. Magurran
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews UK
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Ligon RA, Diaz CD, Morano JL, Troscianko J, Stevens M, Moskeland A, Laman TG, Scholes E. Evolution of correlated complexity in the radically different courtship signals of birds-of-paradise. PLoS Biol 2018; 16:e2006962. [PMID: 30457985 PMCID: PMC6245505 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Accepted: 10/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Ornaments used in courtship often vary wildly among species, reflecting the evolutionary interplay between mate preference functions and the constraints imposed by natural selection. Consequently, understanding the evolutionary dynamics responsible for ornament diversification has been a longstanding challenge in evolutionary biology. However, comparing radically different ornaments across species, as well as different classes of ornaments within species, is a profound challenge to understanding diversification of sexual signals. Using novel methods and a unique natural history dataset, we explore evolutionary patterns of ornament evolution in a group—the birds-of-paradise—exhibiting dramatic phenotypic diversification widely assumed to be driven by sexual selection. Rather than the tradeoff between ornament types originally envisioned by Darwin and Wallace, we found positive correlations among cross-modal (visual/acoustic) signals indicating functional integration of ornamental traits into a composite unit—the “courtship phenotype.” Furthermore, given the broad theoretical and empirical support for the idea that systemic robustness—functional overlap and interdependency—promotes evolutionary innovation, we posit that birds-of-paradise have radiated extensively through ornamental phenotype space as a consequence of the robustness in the courtship phenotype that we document at a phylogenetic scale. We suggest that the degree of robustness in courtship phenotypes among taxa can provide new insights into the relative influence of sexual and natural selection on phenotypic radiations. Animals frequently vary widely in ornamentation, even among closely related species. Understanding the patterns that underlie this variation is a significant challenge, requiring comparisons among drastically different traits—like comparing apples to oranges. Here, we use novel analytical approaches to quantify variation in ornamental diversity and richness across the wildly divergent birds-of-paradise, a textbook example of how sexual selection can profoundly shape organismal phenotypes. We find that color and acoustic complexity, along with behavior and acoustic complexity, are positively correlated across evolutionary timescales. Positive links among ornament classes suggests that selection is acting on correlated suites of traits—a composite courtship phenotype—and this integration may be partially responsible for the extreme variation in signal form that we see in birds-of-paradise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell A. Ligon
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Christopher D. Diaz
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Janelle L. Morano
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Jolyon Troscianko
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Stevens
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Penryn, United Kingdom
| | - Annalyse Moskeland
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Timothy G. Laman
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Edwin Scholes
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
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High fat diet alters Drosophila melanogaster sexual behavior and traits: decreased attractiveness and changes in pheromone profiles. Sci Rep 2018; 8:5387. [PMID: 29599496 PMCID: PMC5876352 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23662-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual traits convey information about individual quality to potential mates. Environmental and genetic factors affect sexual trait expression and perception via effects on animal condition and health. High fat diet (HFD) is one environmental factor that adversely affects Drosophila melanogaster health, and its effects on animal health are mediated through conserved metabolic signaling pathways. HFD decreases female attractiveness, resulting in reduced male mating behaviors toward HFD females. HFD also affects the ability of males to judge mate attractiveness and likely alters fly condition and sexual traits to impact mating behavior. Here we show that HFD affects both visual (body size) and non-visual (pheromone profiles) sexual traits, which likely contribute to decreased fly attractiveness. We also demonstrate that adult-specific HFD effects on male mate preference can be rescued by changing metabolic signaling. These results demonstrate that HFD alters Drosophila sexual cues to reflect concurrent effects on condition and that less severe behavioral defects can be reversed by genetic manipulations that rescue fly health. This work expands on current knowledge of the role that metabolic signaling pathways play in linking animal health, sexual traits, and mating behavior, and provides a robust assay in a genetically tractable system to continue examining these processes.
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Koch RE, Hill GE. Behavioural mating displays depend on mitochondrial function: a potential mechanism for linking behaviour to individual condition. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018; 93:1387-1398. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2017] [Revised: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca E. Koch
- Department of Biological Sciences; Auburn University; Auburn AL 36849 U.S.A
| | - Geoffrey E. Hill
- Department of Biological Sciences; Auburn University; Auburn AL 36849 U.S.A
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Hill GE. Mitonuclear Mate Choice: A Missing Component of Sexual Selection Theory? Bioessays 2018; 40. [DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Geoffrey E. Hill
- Department of Biological Sciences; Auburn University; Auburn Alabama 36849-5414
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Gray LJ, Simpson SJ, Polak M. Fruit flies may face a nutrient-dependent life-history trade-off between secondary sexual trait quality, survival and developmental rate. JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY 2018; 104:60-70. [PMID: 29203178 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2017.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2017] [Revised: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Optimal life-history strategies are those that best allocate finite environmental resources to competing traits. We used the geometric framework for nutrition to evaluate life-history strategies followed by Drosophila melanogaster by measuring the condition-dependent performance of life-history traits, including the morphology of male secondary sexual characters, sex combs. We found that depending on their rearing environment flies faced different forms of trait trade-offs and accordingly followed different life-history strategies. High-energy, high-carbohydrate, low-protein diets supported development of the largest and most symmetrical sex combs, however, consistent with handicap models of sexual selection these foods were associated with reduced fly survival and developmental rate. Expressing the highest quality sex combs may have required secondary sexual trait quality to be traded-off with developmental rate, and our results indicated that flies unable to slow development died. As larval nutritional environments are predominantly determined by female oviposition substrate choice, we tested where mated female flies laid the most eggs. Mothers chose high-energy, high-protein foods associated with rapid larval development. Mothers avoided high-carbohydrate foods associated with maximal sex comb expression, showing they may avoid producing fewer 'sexy' sons in favour of producing offspring that develop rapidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey J Gray
- Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006 Australia.
| | - Stephen J Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006 Australia.
| | - Michal Polak
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221 USA.
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Caro T, Walker H, Santana SE, Stankowich T. The evolution of anterior coloration in carnivorans. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2402-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Tissue-specific insulin signaling mediates female sexual attractiveness. PLoS Genet 2017; 13:e1006935. [PMID: 28817572 PMCID: PMC5560536 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 07/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals choose their mates so as to maximize reproductive success, and one important component of this choice is assessment of traits reflecting mate quality. Little is known about why specific traits are used for mate quality assessment nor about how they reflect it. We have previously shown that global manipulation of insulin signaling, a nutrient-sensing pathway governing investment in survival versus reproduction, affects female sexual attractiveness in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Here we demonstrate that these effects on attractiveness derive from insulin signaling in the fat body and ovarian follicle cells, whose signals are integrated by pheromone-producing cells called oenocytes. Functional ovaries were required for global insulin signaling effects on attractiveness, and manipulations of insulin signaling specifically in late follicle cells recapitulated effects of global manipulations. Interestingly, modulation of insulin signaling in the fat body produced opposite effects on attractiveness, suggesting a competitive relationship with the ovary. Furthermore, all investigated tissue-specific insulin signaling manipulations that changed attractiveness also changed fecundity in the corresponding direction, pointing to insulin pathway activity as a reliable link between fecundity and attractiveness cues. The cues themselves, cuticular hydrocarbons, responded distinctly to fat body and follicle cell manipulations, indicating independent readouts of the pathway activity from these two tissues. Thus, here we describe a system in which female attractiveness results from an apparent connection between attractiveness cues and an organismal state of high fecundity, both of which are created by lowered insulin signaling in the fat body and increased insulin signaling in late follicle cells.
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Schultzhaus JN, Nixon JJ, Duran JA, Carney GE. Diet alters Drosophila melanogaster mate preference and attractiveness. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Caro T. Wallace on Coloration: Contemporary Perspective and Unresolved Insights. Trends Ecol Evol 2017; 32:23-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2016] [Revised: 09/30/2016] [Accepted: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Prokop ZM, Drobniak SM. Genetic variation in male attractiveness: It is time to see the forest for the trees. Evolution 2016; 70:913-21. [PMID: 26940698 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2015] [Accepted: 02/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Female choice based on multiple male traits, rather than on any single one, has been reported in many species and may well be a rule rather than an exception. However, the implications this has for selection acting on choosiness itself remain underappreciated. We argue that this constitutes one of the important impediments to our understanding of the evolution of mate choice. We discuss this issue primarily in the context of the Fisherian model of sexual selection. We review theory and empirical data, showing how the crucial parameter of the model-genetic variation in male attractiveness-can be estimated when attractiveness is a function of multiple traits. Based on the reviewed theory, we show how relying on individual male traits, instead of overall attractiveness, can produce biased estimates of Fisherian benefits of female choice. This bias can be substantial, especially when many traits contribute to male attractiveness. We discuss a number of methodological issues that, we hope, will stimulate future studies and help resolving the long-standing mystery of mate choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zofia M Prokop
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Krakow, Poland.
| | - Szymon M Drobniak
- Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387, Krakow, Poland.,Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
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