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Macedo-Rego RC, Jennions MD, Santos ESA. Does the potential strength of sexual selection differ between mating systems with and without defensive behaviours? A meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024. [PMID: 38597347 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13078] [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: 04/10/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
The Darwin-Bateman paradigm predicts that females enhance their fitness by being choosy and mating with high-quality males, while males should compete to mate with as many females as possible. In many species, males enhance their fitness by defending females and/or resources used by females. That is, males directly defend access to mating opportunities. However, paternity analyses have repeatedly shown that females in most species mate polyandrously, which contradicts traditional expectations that male defensive behaviours lead to monandry. Here, in an extensive meta-analysis, encompassing 109 species and 1026 effect sizes from across the animal kingdom, we tested if the occurrence of defensive behaviours modulates sexual selection on females and males. If so, we can illuminate the extent to which males really succeed in defending access to mating and fertilisation opportunities. We used four different indices of the opportunity for sexual selection that comprise pre-mating and/or post-mating episodes of selection. We found, for both sexes, that the occurrence of defensive behaviours does not modulate the potential strength of sexual selection. This implies that male defensive behaviours do not predict the true intensity of sexual selection. While the most extreme levels of sexual selection on males are in species with male defensive behaviours, which indicates that males do sometimes succeed in restricting females' re-mating ability (e.g. elephant seals, Mirounga leonina), estimates of the opportunity for sexual selection vary greatly across species, regardless of whether or not defensive behaviours occur. Indeed, widespread polyandry shows that females are usually not restricted by male defensive behaviours. In addition, our results indicate that post-mating episodes of selection, such as cryptic female choice and sperm competition, might be important factors modulating the opportunity for sexual selection. We discuss: (i) why male defensive behaviours fail to lower the opportunity for sexual selection among females or fail to elevate it for males; (ii) how post-mating events might influence sexual selection; and (iii) the role of females as active participants in sexual selection. We also highlight that inadequate data reporting in the literature prevented us from extracting effect sizes from many studies that had presumably collected the relevant data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renato C Macedo-Rego
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, no. 321, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Michael D Jennions
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Centre, 10 Marais Street, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa
| | - Eduardo S A Santos
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, no. 321, São Paulo, SP 05508-090, Brazil
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Lange L, Bégué L, Brischoux F, Lourdais O. The costs of being a good dad: egg-carrying and clutch size impair locomotor performance in male midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Parental care is widespread across the animal kingdom. Parental behaviours are beneficial by increasing offspring survival but induce significant costs to the parents. Because parental care is far more common in females, the associated reproductive costs have been largely studied in this sex. Although male parental care is likely to involve significant costs, it has been markedly less well investigated. We studied the costs of egg-carrying on locomotor performance in an amphibian species (Alytes obstetricans) with male parental care. We examined complementary parameters including hopping performance, righting response, hindleg muscle response to egg burden, and homing time in males carrying or not carrying eggs. We found that carrying males showed altered locomotor performance for most traits. In addition, alteration of performance was closely related to relative clutch size. Clutch desertion occurred in smaller individuals carrying larger relative clutch mass, and performance after desertion was similar to that of non-reproductive individuals. Overall, our study demonstrates that carrying eggs significantly alters male mobility and that performance–clutch size trade-offs are relevant in understanding the evolution of paternal care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Léa Lange
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS et Université de la Rochelle – UMR 7372, Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Lauriane Bégué
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS et Université de la Rochelle – UMR 7372, Villiers en Bois, France
| | - François Brischoux
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS et Université de la Rochelle – UMR 7372, Villiers en Bois, France
| | - Olivier Lourdais
- Centre d’Études Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS et Université de la Rochelle – UMR 7372, Villiers en Bois, France
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
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Green DM. Rarity of Size-Assortative Mating in Animals: Assessing the Evidence with Anuran Amphibians. Am Nat 2019; 193:279-295. [DOI: 10.1086/701124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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Ding GH, Tang Y, Lin ZH, Fan XL, Wei L. Mating pattern, female reproduction and sexual size dimorphism in a narrow-mouthed frog (Microhyla fissipes). ANIM BIOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1163/15707563-17000067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The difference in body size and/or shape between males and females, called sexual size dimorphism, is widely accepted as the evolutionary consequence of the difference between reproductive roles. To study the mating pattern, female reproduction and sexual size dimorphism in a population of Microhyla fissipes, amplexus pairs were collected, and the snout-vent length of males and females, female reproductive traits and fertilization rate were measured. If the body size of amplexed females is larger than that of amplectant males, this is referred to as a female-larger pair, a phenomenon that was often observed for M. fissipes in this study. Interestingly, snout-vent length of males in male-larger pairs was greater than that in female-larger pairs, however the post-spawning body mass, clutch size, egg dry mass and clutch dry mass did not differ between both types of pairs. Snout-vent length of males was positively related to that of females in each amplexus pair. After accounting for the snout-vent lengths of females, we showed that snout-vent lengths of males in male-larger pairs were greater than those of females in female-larger pairs. The snout-vent length ratio of males and females was not related to fertilization rate in each amplexus pair. The mean fertilization rate was not different between both amplexus pairs. These results suggest that (1) M. fissipes displays female-biased sexual size dimorphism and has two amplexus types with size-assortative mating; (2) the snout-vent length ratio of males and females in each amplexus type was consistent with the inverse of Rensch’s rule, and was driven by the combined effect of sexual selection and fecundity selection; (3) females with a larger body size were preferred by males due to their higher fecundity, while the body size of males was not important for fertilization success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo-Hua Ding
- College of Ecology, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yun Tang
- College of Ecology, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Zhi-Hua Lin
- College of Ecology, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Li Fan
- College of Ecology, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
| | - Li Wei
- College of Ecology, Lishui University, Lishui 323000, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China
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Székely D, Székely P, Denoël M, Cogălniceanu D. Random size-assortative mating despite size-dependent fecundity in a Neotropical amphibian with explosive reproduction. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Diana Székely
- Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Ovidius University Constanța; Constanța Romania
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology; Behavioural Biology Unit; Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS); University of Liège; Liège Belgium
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; EcoSs Lab; Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja; Loja Ecuador
| | - Paul Székely
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; EcoSs Lab; Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja; Loja Ecuador
- Asociatia Chelonia; București Romania
| | - Mathieu Denoël
- Laboratory of Fish and Amphibian Ethology; Behavioural Biology Unit; Freshwater and Oceanic Science Unit of Research (FOCUS); University of Liège; Liège Belgium
| | - Dan Cogălniceanu
- Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences; Ovidius University Constanța; Constanța Romania
- CITIAB; Universidad Nacional de Loja; Loja Ecuador
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Vojar J, Chajma P, Kopecký O, Puš V, Šálek M. The effect of sex ratio on size-assortative mating in two explosively breeding anurans. AMPHIBIA-REPTILIA 2015. [DOI: 10.1163/15685381-00002991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Size-assortative mating (SAM) is a widespread phenomenon related to individual fitness. In our study, we examined: (i) the appearance of SAM, and (ii) the effect of sex ratio on intensity of SAM in wild populations of two explosively breeding anurans, common frogs,Rana temporaria, and common toads,Bufo bufo. Despite a higher male-biased operational sex ratio (OSR) in toads, the body lengths of the paired males and females were significantly correlated only in frogs. Increasing male-male competition, assessed via the OSR, resulted in a stronger correlation also in frogs only. Thus, great variability in the presence and intensity of SAM has been observed within both studied species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiří Vojar
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Chajma
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Oldřich Kopecký
- Department of Zoology and Fish Farming, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Puš
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Miroslav Šálek
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Prague, Czech Republic
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7
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Green DM. Implications of female body-size variation for the reproductive ecology of an anuran amphibian. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2014.915430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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8
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Size-assortative pairing and discrimination of potential mates by humpback whales in the Hawaiian breeding grounds. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.07.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Mating Pattern, Spawning Behavior, and Sexual Size Dimorphism in the Tropical ToadBufo melanostictus(Schn.). J HERPETOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1670/11-096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Han CS, Jablonski PG, Kim B, Park FC. Size-assortative mating and sexual size dimorphism are predictable from simple mechanics of mate-grasping behavior. BMC Evol Biol 2010; 10:359. [PMID: 21092131 PMCID: PMC3003276 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-10-359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2009] [Accepted: 11/20/2010] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A major challenge in evolutionary biology is to understand the typically complex interactions between diverse counter-balancing factors of Darwinian selection for size assortative mating and sexual size dimorphism. It appears that rarely a simple mechanism could provide a major explanation of these phenomena. Mechanics of behaviors can predict animal morphology, such like adaptations to locomotion in animals from various of taxa, but its potential to predict size-assortative mating and its evolutionary consequences has been less explored. Mate-grasping by males, using specialized adaptive morphologies of their forelegs, midlegs or even antennae wrapped around female body at specific locations, is a general mating strategy of many animals, but the contribution of the mechanics of this wide-spread behavior to the evolution of mating behavior and sexual size dimorphism has been largely ignored. RESULTS Here, we explore the consequences of a simple, and previously ignored, fact that in a grasping posture the position of the male's grasping appendages relative to the female's body is often a function of body size difference between the sexes. Using an approach taken from robot mechanics we model coercive grasping of females by water strider Gerris gracilicornis males during mating initiation struggles. We determine that the male optimal size (relative to the female size), which gives the males the highest grasping force, properly predicts the experimentally measured highest mating success. Through field sampling and simulation modeling of a natural population we determine that the simple mechanical model, which ignores most of the other hypothetical counter-balancing selection pressures on body size, is sufficient to account for size-assortative mating pattern as well as species-specific sexual dimorphism in body size of G. gracilicornis. CONCLUSION The results indicate how a simple and previously overlooked physical mechanism common in many taxa is sufficient to account for, or importantly contribute to, size-assortative mating and its consequences for the evolution of sexual size dimorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang S Han
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
- School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Piotr G Jablonski
- Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
- Centre for Ecological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Dziekanów Lesny, 05 092 Łomianki, Poland
| | - Beobkyun Kim
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Frank C Park
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
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11
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Penna M, Márquez R, Bosch J, Crespo EG. Nonoptimal propagation of advertisement calls of midwife toads in Iberian habitats. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2006; 119:1227-37. [PMID: 16521783 DOI: 10.1121/1.2149769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
This study compares the efficiency of transmission of the advertisement calls of two species of midwife toads, Alytes cisternasii and A. obstetricans, in both native and non-native habitats in the Iberian Peninsula. Recorded calls of both species and pure tones were broadcast at ten sites native to either the relatively small A. cisternasii or the larger A. obstetricans. A large variation in the patterns of excess attenuation between localities was observed for calls measured at distances of 0.5 to 8 m from a loudspeaker. However, attenuation rates were higher for calls of both species in habitats of A. obstetricans relative to habitats of A. cisternasii. The calls of A. obstetricans experienced lower attenuation rates than those of A. cisternasii in both conspecific and heterospecific localities. Thus, although A. cisternasii occupies habitats more favorable for sound transmission, its advertisement call spectrum is not optimized for these habitats; the calls of A. obstetricans suffer less attenuation in A. cisternasii habitats. This result argues against the notion that spectral features of the calls are adapted to enhance transmission efficiency in natural habitats, and suggests that differences in call dominant frequency between the two species result from constraints imposed by selection on body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Penna
- Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago, Chile.
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Wogel H, Abrunhosa PA, Pombal Jr JP. Breeding behaviour and mating success ofPhyllomedusa rohdei(Anura, Hylidae) in south‐eastern Brazil. J NAT HIST 2005. [DOI: 10.1080/00222930500044581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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13
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KUPFER ALEXANDER, NABHITABHATA JARUJIN, HIMSTEDT WERNER. Reproductive ecology of female caecilian amphibians (genus Ichthyophis): a baseline study. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2004. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00382.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Shine R, O'connor D, Lemaster M, Mason R. Pick on someone your own size: ontogenetic shifts in mate choice by male garter snakes result in size-assortative mating. Anim Behav 2001. [DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2001.1712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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15
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Harari AR, Handler AM, Landolt PJ. Size-assortative mating, male choice and female choice in the curculionid beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus. Anim Behav 1999; 58:1191-1200. [PMID: 10600139 DOI: 10.1006/anbe.1999.1257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
In the beetle Diaprepes abbreviatus (L.) females are larger on average than males, as indicated by elytra length. Size-assortative matings were observed in wild populations in Florida and in laboratory mating experiments. We tested three mechanisms for this size-assortative mating: (1) mate availability; (2) mating constraints; and (3) mate choice. We found that mate choice influenced size-assortative mating by: (1) large and small males preferring to mate with large females; (2) large males successfully competing for large females, leaving small males to mate with small females; and (3) females accepting large males as mates more readily than small males. Males increased their reproductive success by mating with larger, more fecund females. They transferred protein to females during mating. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
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