Suchergebnisse

Intralocus sexual conflict (IASC) prevents males and females from reaching their disparate phenotypic optima and is widespread, but little is known about its genetic underpinnings. In Rhizoglyphus robini, a mite species with alternative male morphs, elevated sexual dimorphism of the armoured fighter males (compared to more feminized scramblers males) was previously reported to be associated with increased IASC. Because IASC persists if gene expression patterns are correlated between sexes, we compared gene expression patterns of males and females from the replicate lines selected for increased proportion of fighter or scrambler males (F- and S-lines, respectively). Specifically, we tested the prediction that selection for fighter morph caused correlated changes in gene expression patterns in females. We identified 532 differentially expressed genes (FDR < 0.05) between the F-line and S-line males. Consistent with the prediction, expression levels of these genes also differed between females from respective lines. Thus, significant proportion of genes differentially expressed between sexually selected male phenotypes showed correlated expression levels in females, likely contributing to elevated IASC in F-lines reported in a previous study. ; This work was supported by the Foundation for Polish Science, International PhD Projects Programme co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the project MPD/2009-3/5, "Environmental stress, population viability and adaptation", KNOW RNA Research Centre in Poznań 01/KNOW2/2014, and the Jagiellonian University (DS/WBiNoZ/INoS/762/14). The bulb mite genome analyses were supported by HHMI International Early Career Scientist Program (55007424), the MINECO (BFU2012-31329 and BFU2015-68723-P), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2013-2017 grant (SEV-2012-0208), Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat's AGAUR program (2014 SGR 0974), and the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013, ERC grant agreement (335980_EinME).

Sexual conflict in nature -- Sexual selection and sexual conflict: history, theory, and empirical avenues -- Sexual conflict prior to mating -- Sexual conflict after mating -- Parental care and sexual conflict -- Other implications of sexual conflict -- Concepts and levels of sexual conflict -- Concluding remarks

Chapter 1. Sex and Behavior -- Chapter 2. Genetic Tools to Investigate the Consequences of Sex -- Chapter 3. Skulls, Teeth, and Sex -- Chapter 4. Cetacean Evolution: Copulatory and Birthing Consequences of Pelvic and Hindlimb Reduction -- Chapter 5. Sexual Anatomy of Female Cetaceans: Art and Science Contribute Insights into Functionality -- Chapter 6. Interspecific Comparison of Reproductive Strategies -- Chapter 7. Non-Conceptive Sexual Behavior in Cetaceans: Comparison of Form and Function -- Chapter 8. Play, Sexual Display, or Just Boredom Relief? -- Chapter 9. Sexual Behaviors of Odontocetes in Managed Care -- Chapter 10. Infanticide and Sexual Conflict in Cetaceans -- Chapter 11. Drone Perspectives on Cetacean Mating and Sex -- Chapter 12. Inter- and Intrapopulation Variation in Bottlenose Dolphin Mating Strategies -- Chapter 13. Sex and Sexual Strategies in Deep-Diving Risso's Dolphins -- Chapter 14. Sociosexual Behavior of Nocturnally Foraging Dusky and Spinner Dolphins -- Chapter 15. Life History Parameters, Sociobiology, and Reproductive Strategies of Pilot Whales -- Chapter 16. Sex in Killer Whales: Behavior, Exogamy and the Evolution of Sexual Strategies in the Ocean's Apex Predator -- Chapter 17. Beaked Whale Sexual Dimorphism, Mating Strategies, and Diversification -- Chapter 18. Sexual Behavior and Anatomy in Porpoises -- Chapter 19. Sperm Whale Reproductive Strategies: Current Knowledge and Future Directions -- Chapter 20. Reproductive Tactics in Baleen Whales -- Chapter 21. Gray Whale Sex, Reproductive Behavior, and Social Strategies -- Chapter 22. Bowhead Whale Reproductive Strategies -- Chapter 23. Right Whale Sexual Strategies and Behavior -- Chapter 24. Cetacean Sociality, Reproduction, and Conservation.

Background The optimal allocation of resources to sexual signals and other life history traits is usually dependent on an individual's condition, while variation in the expression of sexual traits across environments depends on the combined effects of local adaptation, mean condition, and phenotypic responses to environment-specific cues that affect resource allocation. A clear contrast can often be drawn between natural habitats and novel habitats, such as forest plantations and urban areas. In some species, males seem to change their sexual signals in these novel environments, but why this occurs and how it affects signal reliability is still poorly understood. ; Results The relative size of sexual traits and level of immune responses were significantly lower for male palmate newts Lissotriton helveticus caught in pine and eucalyptus plantations compared to those caught in native forests, but there was no habitat-dependent difference in body condition (n = 18 sites, 382 males). The reliability with which sexual traits signalled body condition and immune responses was the same in all three habitats. Finally, we conducted a mesocosm experiment in which males were maintained in pine, eucalypt or oak infused water for 21 days. Males in plantation-like water (pine or eucalypt) showed significantly lower immune responses but no change in body condition. This matches the pattern seen for field-caught males. Unlike field-caught males, however, there was no relationship between water type and relative sexual trait size. ; Conclusions Pine and eucalyptus plantations are likely to be detrimental to male palmate newt because they are associated with reduced immune function and smaller sexual traits. This could be because ecological aspects of these novel habitats, such as high water turbidity or changes in male-male competition, drive selection for reduced investment into sexual traits. However, it is more probable that there are differences in the ease of acquisition, hence optimal allocation, of resources among habitats. Our mesocosm experiment also provides some evidence that water toxicity is a causal factor. Our findings offer insights into how plantations affect amphibian life histories, and how novel habitats might generate long-term selection for new resource allocation strategies in native species. ; This work was supported by the Basque Government, Aquitaine-Euskadi Euroregion and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture with a pre-doctoral grant to M. I-C (grant number FPU12/04148). ; Peer reviewed

Robert Trivers is a pioneering figure in the field of sociobiology. For Natural Selection and Social Theory, he has selected eleven of his most influential papers, including several classic papers from the early 1970s on the evolution of reciprocal altruism, parent-offspring conflicts, and asymmetry in sexual selection, which helped to establish the centrality of sociobiology, as well as some of his later work on deceit in signalling, sex antagonistic genes, and imprinting. Trivers introduces each paper, setting them in their contemporary context, and critically evaluating them in the light of

Recently, scholars have used a Bourdieusian theory of practice to analyze systems of sexual stratification, including an examination of sexual fields and sexual (or erotic) capital. While the broad structural features of the sexual field have been a point of focus in this latter research, a systematic analysis of the interactional processes that operate within the sexual status order has not been performed. In this paper, drawing on original data from an urban gay enclave, I identify six key interactional processes that occur within sexual fields, including: 1) actors' recognition that the sexual field is constituted by a set of relations anchored to competition and sexual selection; 2) the perception of a generalized other ( Mead 1934 ) within the field, including knowledge concerning a given field's collective valuations of sexual attractiveness; 3) a formulation of one's own position within the sexual status order vis-à-vis intersubjective feedback and the development of a looking-glass self ( Cooley 1902 ); 4) an assessment of others' positions within the sexual status order; 5) knowledge of "the game" ( Goffman 1959 )—including how to conduct a successful self-performance (ibid.), the construction of an optimizing front (ibid.) and proper field-specific demeanor ( Goffman 1967 ); and finally, ideally, 6) the ability to "save face." In total, these interactional processes draw from and reproduce systems of sexual stratification, and are likely to generalize across sexual fields.