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Touzot L, Paniw M. Are some species more sensitive to environmental change than others? It may all depend on the context. J Anim Ecol 2024. [PMID: 38650117 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Research Highlight: Rademaker, M., van Leeuwen, A., & Smallegange, I. M. (2024). Why we cannot always expect life history strategies to directly inform on sensitivity to environmental change. Journal of Animal Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14050. Ecological studies have long delved into how organisms allocate energy between reproduction and somatic maintenance to maximize fitness. This allocation gives rise to various life-history strategies, and these strategies have been shown to predict how populations respond to environmental change, allowing us to generalize potential responses to increasing human pressures. Such predictions have, however, been made for a limited set of terrestrial taxa and typically do not explore how individual differences in life-history responses to environmental change scale to affect population-level responses. Using novel data on diverse fish species, Rademaker et al. (2024) construct models that link individual-level trade-offs in energy allocation under environmental change to population-level life-history strategies. A key finding in their study is that short-lived species are not more sensitive to environmental change-unlike results of previous studies. This study represents a new generation of work that underscores the complexity of predicting population responses to environmental shifts and suggests a need for a broader understanding of individual-level mechanisms. The results of Rademaker et al. (2024) encourage further mechanistic life-history analyses across a wider range of species and populations to validate the exciting findings and explore their implications across diverse ecological contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Touzot
- Centre de Recherches sur les Ecosystèmes d'Altitude (CREA Mont-Blanc), Chamonix, France
| | - Maria Paniw
- Doñana Biological Station, Spanish National Research Council (EBD-CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
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2
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Rademaker M, van Leeuwen A, Smallegange IM. Why we cannot always expect life history strategies to directly inform on sensitivity to environmental change. J Anim Ecol 2024; 93:348-366. [PMID: 38303132 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.14050] [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: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Variation in life history traits in animals and plants can often be structured along major axes of life history strategies. The position of a species along these axes can inform on their sensitivity to environmental change. For example, species with slow life histories are found to be less sensitive in their long-term population responses to environmental change than species with fast life histories. This provides a tantalizing link between sets of traits and population responses to change, contained in a highly generalizable theoretical framework. Life history strategies are assumed to reflect the outcome of life history tradeoffs that, by their very nature, act at the individual level. Examples include the tradeoff between current and future reproductive success, and allocating energy into growth versus reproduction. But the importance of such tradeoffs in structuring population-level responses to environmental change remains understudied. We aim to increase our understanding of the link between individual-level life history tradeoffs and the structuring of life history strategies across species, as well as the underlying links to population responses to environmental change. We find that the classical association between lifehistory strategies and population responses to environmental change breaks down when accounting for individual-level tradeoffs and energy allocation. Therefore, projecting population responses to environmental change should not be inferred based only on a limited set of species traits. We summarize our perspective and a way forward in a conceptual framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Rademaker
- Department of Coastal Systems, Royal NIOZ and Utrecht University, Texel, The Netherlands
| | - Anieke van Leeuwen
- Department of Coastal Systems, Royal NIOZ and Utrecht University, Texel, The Netherlands
| | - Isabel M Smallegange
- School of Natural & Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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3
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Patterson C, Pilakouta N. Effects of Parental Care on the Magnitude of Inbreeding Depression: A Meta-Analysis in Fishes. Am Nat 2024; 203:E50-E62. [PMID: 38306289 DOI: 10.1086/728001] [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] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
AbstractInbreeding results from matings between relatives and often leads to a reduction in the fitness of inbred offspring, known as inbreeding depression. There is substantial variation in the magnitude of inbreeding depression among and within species, driven by differences in the biotic and abiotic environment. Recent studies in three species found that parental care has the potential to buffer against inbreeding depression in the offspring, but the generality of this pattern is still unknown. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to test whether variation in the magnitude of inbreeding depression is related to among-species differences in parental care in fishes. We synthesized 536 effect sizes across 56 studies and 18 species, spanning 47 years of research. We found that inbred offspring suffer a smaller reduction in fitness in species that provide biparental care than in species with uniparental or no care. By using a comparative approach, this study provides novel insights into the capacity of parental care to moderate inbreeding depression and suggests that these effects may currently be underappreciated. Considering the potential effects of parental care on inbreeding depression can help us understand why some species avoid inbreeding, whereas others tolerate or even prefer inbreeding, which has important implications for the maintenance of genetic variation within populations.
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4
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Long X, Weissing FJ. Transient polymorphisms in parental care strategies drive divergence of sex roles. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6805. [PMID: 37884497 PMCID: PMC10603145 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42607-6] [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: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The parental roles of males and females differ considerably between and within species. By means of individual-based evolutionary simulations, we strive to explain this diversity. We show that the conflict between the sexes creates a sex bias (towards maternal or paternal care), even if the two sexes are initially identical. When including sexual selection, there are two outcomes: either female mate choice and maternal care or no mate choice and paternal care. Interestingly, the care pattern drives sexual selection and not vice versa. Longer-term simulations exhibit rapid switches between alternative parental care patterns, even in constant environments. Hence, the evolutionary lability of sex roles observed in phylogenetic studies is not necessarily caused by external changes. Overall, our findings are in striking contrast to the predictions of mathematical models. We show that the discrepancies are caused by transient within-sex polymorphisms in parental strategies, a factor largely neglected in current sex-role theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Long
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747AG, The Netherlands
- Institute of Biology I, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 79104, Germany
| | - Franz J Weissing
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747AG, The Netherlands.
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5
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Ito T, Morita M, Okuno S, Inaba K, Shiba K, Munehara H, Koya Y, Homma M, Awata S. Fertilization modes and the evolution of sperm characteristics in marine fishes: Paired comparisons of externally and internally fertilizing species. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9562. [PMID: 36479029 PMCID: PMC9720005 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Fertilization mode may affect sperm characteristics, such as morphology, velocity, and motility. However, there is little information on how fertilization mode affects sperm evolution because several factors (e.g., sperm competition) are intricately intertwined when phylogenetically distant species are compared. Here, we investigated sperm characteristics by comparing seven externally and four internally fertilizing marine fishes from three different groups containing close relatives, considering sperm competition levels. The sperm head was significantly slenderer in internal fertilizers than in external fertilizers, suggesting that a slender head is advantageous for swimming in viscous ovarian fluid or in narrow spaces of the ovary. In addition, sperm motility differed between external and internal fertilizers; sperm of external fertilizers were only motile in seawater, whereas sperm of internal fertilizers were only motile in an isotonic solution. These results suggest that sperm motility was adapted according to fertilization mode. By contrast, total sperm length and sperm velocity were not associated with fertilization mode, perhaps because of the different levels of sperm competition. Relative testis mass (an index of sperm competition level) was positively correlated with sperm velocity and negatively correlated with the ratio of sperm head length to total sperm length. These findings suggest that species with higher levels of sperm competition have faster sperm with longer flagella relative to the head length. These results contradict the previous assumption that the evolution of internal fertilization increases the total sperm length. In addition, copulatory behavior with internal insemination may involve a large genital morphology, but this is not essential in fish, suggesting the existence of various sperm transfer methods. Although the power of our analyses is not strong because of the limited number of species, we propose a new scenario of sperm evolution in which internal fertilization would increase sperm head length, but not total sperm length, and change sperm motility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Ito
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of ScienceOsaka Metropolitan UniversityOsakaJapan,Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of ScienceOsaka City UniversityOsakaJapan
| | - Masaya Morita
- Sesoko Station, Tropical Biosphere Research CenterUniversity of the RyukyusMotobuJapan
| | - Seiya Okuno
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of ScienceOsaka Metropolitan UniversityOsakaJapan,Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of ScienceOsaka City UniversityOsakaJapan
| | - Kazuo Inaba
- Shimoda Marine Research CenterUniversity of TsukubaShimodaJapan
| | - Kogiku Shiba
- Shimoda Marine Research CenterUniversity of TsukubaShimodaJapan
| | - Hiroyuki Munehara
- Usujiri Fisheries Station, Field Science Center for Northern BiosphereHokkaido UniversityHakodateJapan
| | - Yasunori Koya
- Department of Biology, Faculty of EducationGifu UniversityGifuJapan
| | | | - Satoshi Awata
- Department of Biology, Graduate School of ScienceOsaka Metropolitan UniversityOsakaJapan,Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of ScienceOsaka City UniversityOsakaJapan
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6
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Maciejewski MF, Bell AM. Insights into Parental Care from Studies on Non-mammalian Vertebrates. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2022; 3:792-798. [PMID: 36519149 PMCID: PMC9743901 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-022-00127-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Parental care has attracted attention from both proximate and ultimate perspectives. While understanding the adaptive significance of care has been the focus of work in diverse organisms in behavioral ecology, most of what we know about the proximate mechanisms underlying parental care behavior comes from studies in mammals. Although studies on mammals have greatly improved our understanding of care, viewing parental care solely through a mammalian lens can limit our understanding. Here, we draw upon examples from non-mammalian vertebrate systems to show that in many ways mammals are the exception rather than the rule for caregiving: across vertebrates, maternal care is often not the ancestral or the most common mode of care and fathering is not derivative of mothering. Embracing the diversity of parental care can improve our understanding of both the proximate basis and adaptive significance of parental care and the affective processes involved in caregiving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan F. Maciejewski
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
| | - Alison M. Bell
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
- Program in Neuroscience, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
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7
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The evolution of parental care in salamanders. Sci Rep 2022; 12:16655. [PMID: 36198742 PMCID: PMC9535019 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20903-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex parenting has been proposed to contribute to the evolutionary success of vertebrates. However, the evolutionary routes to complex parenting and the role of parenting in vertebrate diversity are still contentious. Although basal vertebrates provide clues to complex reproduction, these are often understudied. Using 181 species that represent all major lineages of an early vertebrate group, the salamanders and newts (Caudata, salamanders henceforth) here we show that fertilisation mode is tied to parental care: male-only care occurs in external fertilisers, whereas female-only care exclusively occurs in internal fertilisers. Importantly, internal fertilisation opens the way to terrestrial reproduction, because fertilised females are able to deposit their eggs on land, and with maternal care provision, the eggs could potentially develop outside the aquatic environment. Taken together, our results of a semi-aquatic early vertebrate group propose that the diversity and follow-up radiation of terrestrial vertebrates are inherently associated with a complex social behaviour, parenting.
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8
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Conflict and the evolution of viviparity in vertebrates. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03171-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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9
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Abecia JE, King AJ, Luiz OJ, Crook DA, Wedd D, Banks SC. Diverse parentage relationships in paternal mouthbrooding fishes. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20210576. [PMID: 35506241 PMCID: PMC9065974 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
While mouthbrooding is not an uncommon parental care strategy in fishes, paternal mouthbrooding only occurs in eight fish families and is little studied. The high cost of paternal mouthbrooding to the male implies a low risk of investment in another male's offspring but genetic parentage patterns are poorly known for paternal mouthbrooders. Here, we used single-nucleotide polymorphism genetic data to investigate parentage relationships of broods of two mouthbrooders of northern Australian rivers, mouth almighty Glossamia aprion and blue catfish Neoarius graeffei. For N. graeffei, we found that the parentage pattern was largely monogamous with the brooder male as the sire. For G. aprion, the parentage pattern was more heterogeneous including observations of monogamous broods with the brooder male as the sire (73%), polygyny (13%), cuckoldry (6%) and a brood genetically unrelated to the brooder male (6%). Findings demonstrate the potential for complex interrelationships of male care, paternity confidence and mating behaviour in mouthbrooding fishes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janine E Abecia
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia
| | - Alison J King
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia.,Centre for Freshwater Ecosystems, La Trobe University, Albury/Wodonga Campus, Vic 3690, Australia
| | - Osmar J Luiz
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia
| | - David A Crook
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia.,Centre for Freshwater Ecosystems, La Trobe University, Albury/Wodonga Campus, Vic 3690, Australia
| | - Dion Wedd
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia
| | - Sam C Banks
- Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Ellengowan Drive, Casuarina, NT 0810, Australia
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10
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Brooks GC, Kindsvater HK. Early Development Drives Variation in Amphibian Vulnerability to Global Change. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.813414] [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] Open
Abstract
Understanding how natural selection determines species’ life histories can reveal their resilience or sensitivity to anthropogenic changes. For example, the safe harbor hypothesis posits that natural selection will favor life histories that maximize the time spent in the safest life stages; a second theoretical prediction suggests that species with complex life histories will maximize the growth potential of a life stage relative to its safety. Amphibians exhibit complex life histories, with a diversity of developmental strategies occurring across taxa. Many strategies involve the complete elimination of a particular life stage, and thus provide an excellent opportunity to evaluate the main tenets of the safe harbor hypothesis and understand the consequences of this developmental variation for conservation of threatened amphibians. We develop a general framework for understanding developmental life histories of amphibians – including the special cases of paedomorphism, direct development, and viviparity – based on the relative growth potential and safety offered by aquatic and terrestrial habitat, which we tested using a global trait database. We then compare the IUCN Red List status of species differing in developmental mode, revealing that most fully aquatic species and species with an aquatic larval stage are currently of Least Concern, despite the fact that freshwater habitats are being lost at a much faster rate compared with terrestrial ecosystems. The higher proportion of direct developing and viviparous species that are threatened can be attributed to their smaller ranges, the fact that they are more likely to be found in rainforest habitats, and their relatively slow life histories. We conclude that an amphibian’s developmental mode reflects the relative costs and benefits of different habitats, and that this could contribute to the resilience or vulnerability of amphibians to future anthropogenic change.
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11
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Orr TJ, Burns M, Hawkes K, Holekamp KE, Hook KA, Josefson CC, Kimmitt AA, Lewis AK, Lipshutz SE, Lynch KS, Sirot LK, Stadtmauer DJ, Staub NL, Wolfner MF, Hayssen V. It Takes Two to Tango: Including a Female Perspective in Reproductive Biology. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 60:796-813. [PMID: 32702091 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Like many scientific disciplines, the field of reproductive biology is subject to biases in terminology and research foci. For example, females are often described as coy and passive players in reproductive behaviors and are termed "promiscuous" if they engage in extra-pair copulations. Males on the other hand are viewed as actively holding territories and fighting with other males. Males are termed "multiply mating" if they mate with multiple females. Similarly, textbooks often illustrate meiosis as it occurs in males but not females. This edition of Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB) includes a series of papers that focus on reproduction from the female perspective. These papers represent a subset of the work presented in our symposium and complementary sessions on female reproductive biology. In this round table discussion, we use a question and answer format to leverage the diverse perspectives and voices involved with the symposium in an exploration of theoretical, cultural, pedagogical, and scientific issues related to the study of female biology. We hope this dialog will provide a stepping-stone toward moving reproductive science and teaching to a more inclusive and objective framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teri J Orr
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA
| | - Mercedes Burns
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
| | - Kristen Hawkes
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Kay E Holekamp
- Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Kristin A Hook
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Chloe C Josefson
- Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
| | - Abigail A Kimmitt
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - A Kelsey Lewis
- Center for Research on Gender and Women & Department of Urology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Sara E Lipshutz
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Kathleen S Lynch
- Biological Sciences, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA
| | - Laura K Sirot
- Department of Biology, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
| | - Daniel J Stadtmauer
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Nancy L Staub
- Biology Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258, USA
| | - Mariana F Wolfner
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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12
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Abstract
Sperm competition is a powerful selective force that has shaped sexual traits throughout animal evolution. Yet, how fertilization mode (i.e. external versus internal fertilization) influences the scope and potential for sperm competition to act on ejaculates remains unclear. Here, I examine how fertilization mode shapes ejaculatory responses to sperm competition in fishes, a diverse group that constitute the majority of vertebrate biological diversity. Fishes are an ideal group for this examination because they exhibit a wide range of reproductive behaviours and an unparalleled number of transitions in fertilization mode compared to any other vertebrate group. Drawing on data from cartilaginous and bony fishes, I first show that rates of multiple paternity are higher in internally than externally fertilizing fishes, contrary to the prevailing expectation. I then summarize how sperm competition acts on sperm number and quality in internally and externally fertilizing fishes, highlighting where theoretical predictions differ between these groups. Differences in how ejaculates respond to sperm competition between fertilization modes are most apparent when considering sperm size and swimming performance. Clarifying how fertilization mode influences evolutionary responses in ejaculates will inform our understanding of ejaculate evolution across the animal tree of life. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of sperm competition’.
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Affiliation(s)
- John L Fitzpatrick
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, Stockholm 10691, Sweden
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13
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Safari I, Goymann W. The evolution of reversed sex roles and classical polyandry: Insights from coucals and other animals. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ignas Safari
- Max‐Planck‐Institut für Ornithologie, Abteilung für Verhaltensneurobiologie Seewiesen Germany
- Coucal Project Chimala Tanzania
- Department of Biology University of Dodoma Dodoma Tanzania
| | - Wolfgang Goymann
- Max‐Planck‐Institut für Ornithologie, Abteilung für Verhaltensneurobiologie Seewiesen Germany
- Coucal Project Chimala Tanzania
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14
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Goldberg RL, Downing PA, Griffin AS, Green JP. The costs and benefits of paternal care in fish: a meta-analysis. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201759. [PMID: 32933439 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Male-only parental care, while rare in most animals, is a widespread strategy within teleost fish. The costs and benefits to males of acting as sole carer are highly variable among fish species making it challenging to determine the selective pressures driving the evolution of male-only care to such a high prevalence. We conducted a phylogenetic meta-analysis to examine the costs and benefits of paternal care across fish species. We found no evidence that providing care negatively affects male condition. In contrast with other taxa, we also found limited evidence that male care has evolved as a strategy to improve offspring survival. Instead, we found that males already caring for a brood are preferred by females and that this preference is strongest in those species in which males work harder to care for larger broods. Thus, in fish, investment in offspring care does not constrain a male's mating success but rather augments it, suggesting that the relatively high prevalence of male-only care in fish may be in part explained by sexual selection through female preference for caring males.
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15
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Valencia-Aguilar A, Zamudio KR, Haddad CFB, Bogdanowicz SM, Prado CPA. Show me you care: female mate choice based on egg attendance rather than male or territorial traits. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Female mate choice is often based on male traits, including signals or behaviors, and/or the quality of a male’s territory. In species with obligate paternal care, where care directly affects offspring survival, females may also base their mate choices on the quality of a sire’s care. Here, we quantified male reproductive success in a natural population of the glass frog Hyalinobatrachium cappellei, a species with male parental care, to determine the influence of territory quality, male traits, and paternal care behaviors on female mate choice. We found that attending males have a higher chance of gaining new clutches than nonattending males. Our results indicate that females do not select males based only on body condition, calling persistence, or territory traits. Instead, our findings support the hypothesis that females choose males based on care status. Indeed, males already attending a clutch were 70% more likely to obtain another clutch, and the time to acquire an additional clutch was significantly shorter. We also found that males adjust their parental care effort in response to genetic relatedness by caring only for their own offspring; however, remaining close to unrelated clutches serves as a strategy to attract females and increase chances of successful mating. Thus, males that establish territories that already contain clutches benefit from the signal eggs provide to females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anyelet Valencia-Aguilar
- Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Avenida 24 A, Rio Claro, São Paulo CEP, Brazil
| | - Kelly R Zamudio
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Célio F B Haddad
- Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Biodiversidade and Centro de Aquicultura, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Avenida 24 A, Rio Claro, São Paulo CEP, Brazil
| | - Steve M Bogdanowicz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Cynthia P A Prado
- Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Avenida 24 A, Rio Claro, São Paulo CEP, Brazil
- Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane km 05, Jaboticabal, São Paulo CEP, Brazil
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16
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Whittington CM, Friesen CR. The evolution and physiology of male pregnancy in syngnathid fishes. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2020; 95:1252-1272. [PMID: 32372478 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2019] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The seahorses, pipefishes and seadragons (Syngnathidae) are among the few vertebrates in which pregnant males incubate developing embryos. Syngnathids are popular in studies of sexual selection, sex-role reversal, and reproductive trade-offs, and are now emerging as valuable comparative models for the study of the biology and evolution of reproductive complexity. These fish offer the opportunity to examine the physiology, behavioural implications, and evolutionary origins of embryo incubation, independent of the female reproductive tract and female hormonal milieu. Such studies allow us to examine flexibility in regulatory systems, by determining whether the pathways underpinning female pregnancy are also co-opted in incubating males, or whether novel pathways have evolved in response to the common challenges imposed by incubating developing embryos and releasing live young. The Syngnathidae are also ideal for studies of the evolution of reproductive complexity, because they exhibit multiple parallel origins of complex reproductive phenotypes. Here we assay the taxonomic distribution of syngnathid parity mode, examine the selective pressures that may have led to the emergence of male pregnancy, describe the biology of syngnathid reproduction, and highlight pressing areas for future research. Experimental tests of a range of hypotheses, including many generated with genomic tools, are required to inform overarching theories about the fitness implications of pregnancy and the evolution of male pregnancy. Such information will be widely applicable to our understanding of fundamental reproductive and evolutionary processes in animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla M Whittington
- The University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia.,The University of Sydney, Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia
| | - Christopher R Friesen
- The University of Wollongong, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia.,Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia
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