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Female polymorphisms, sexual conflict and limits to speciation processes in animals

In English

Författare

Summary, in English

Heritable and visually detectable polymorphisms, such as trophic polymorphisms, ecotypes, or colour morphs, have become classical model systems among ecological geneticists and evolutionary biologists. The relatively simple genetic basis of many polymorphisms (one or a few loci) makes such species well-suited to study evolutionary processes in natural settings. More recently, polymorphic systems have become popular when studying the early stages of the speciation process and mechanisms facilitating or constraining the evolution of reproductive isolation. Although colour polymorphisms have been studied extensively in the past, we argue that they have been underutilized as model systems of constraints on speciation processes. Colouration traits may function as signalling characters in sexual selection contexts, and the maintenance of colour polymorphisms is often due to frequency-dependent selection. One important issue is why there are so few described cases of female polymorphisms. Here we present a synthetic overview of female sexual polymorphisms, drawing from our previous work on female colour polymorphisms in lizards and damselflies. We argue that female sexual polymorphisms have probably been overlooked in the past, since workers have mainly focused on male-male competition over mates and have not realized the ecological sources of genetic variation in female fitness. Recent experimental evolution studies on fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) have demonstrated significant heritable variation among female genotypes in the fitness costs of resistance or tolerance to male mating harassment. In addition, female-female competition over resources could also generate genetic variation in female fitness and promote the maintenance of female sexual polymorphisms. Female sexual polymorphisms could subsequently either be maintained as intrapopulational polymorphisms or provide the raw material for the formation of new species.

Publiceringsår

2009

Språk

Engelska

Sidor

93-108

Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie

Evolutionary Ecology

Volym

23

Issue

1

Dokumenttyp

Artikel i tidskrift

Förlag

Springer

Ämne

  • Biological Sciences

Nyckelord

  • Speciation
  • Sexual conflict
  • mating harassment
  • Male
  • Female resistance
  • Antagonistic coevolution
  • Female competition

Status

Published

Forskningsgrupp

  • Genetics of Sex Differences
  • Evolution and Ecology of Phenotypes in Nature

ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt

  • ISSN: 1573-8477