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Biology Letters Nov 2021Humans often mate with those resembling themselves, a phenomenon described as positive assortative mating (PAM). The causes of this attract broad interest, but there is... (Review)
Review
Humans often mate with those resembling themselves, a phenomenon described as positive assortative mating (PAM). The causes of this attract broad interest, but there is little agreement on the topic. This may be because empirical studies and reviews sometimes focus on just a few explanations, often based on disciplinary conventions. This review presents an interdisciplinary conceptual framework on the causes of PAM in humans, drawing on human and non-human biology, the social sciences, and the humanities. Viewing causality holistically, we first discuss the proximate causes (i.e. the 'how') of PAM, considering three mechanisms: stratification, convergence and mate choice. We also outline methods to control for confounders when studying mate choice. We then discuss ultimate explanations (i.e. 'the why') for PAM, including adaptive and non-adaptive processes. We conclude by suggesting a focus on interdisciplinarity in future research.
Topics: Animals; Mating Preference, Animal; Reproduction
PubMed: 34813721
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0463 -
Ecology and Evolution Jun 2020Ungulates exhibit diverse mating systems that range from monogamous pair territories to highly polygynous leks. We review mating systems and behaviors across ungulates... (Review)
Review
Ungulates exhibit diverse mating systems that range from monogamous pair territories to highly polygynous leks. We review mating systems and behaviors across ungulates and offer a new approach synthesizing how interacting factors may shape those mating systems. Variability exists in mating systems among and within species of ungulates and likely is affected by predation risk, availability of resources (food and mates), habitat structure, and sociality. Ungulate mating systems may be labile as a consequence of the varying strength of those interacting factors. In addition, degree of polygyny and sexual dimorphism in size are associated with the evolution of mating systems. Neither male-male combat nor paternal care, however, can completely explain differences in sexual size dimorphism for ungulates, a necessary component in understanding the development of some mating systems. Whatever the evolutionary pathway, sexual segregation limits paternal care allowing more intense male-male competition. Selection of habitat structure, because it modifies risk of predation, is a major determinant of sociality for ungulates. Likewise, ruggedness and steepness of terrain limit the types of mating systems that can occur because of limitations in group size and cohesiveness, as well as the ability of males to herd even small groups of females effectively. The quality and defensibility of resources affect mating systems, as does the defensibility of females. Population density of females also may be a critical determinant of the types of mating systems that develop. Size of groups likewise constrains the types of mating tactics that males can employ. Our aim was to use those relationships to create a broad conceptual model that predicts how various environmental and social factors interact to structure mating systems in ungulates. This model provides a useful framework for future tests of the roles of both ecological and social conditions in influencing the social systems of ungulates.
PubMed: 32551090
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6246 -
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Feb 2021When the reproductive interests of males and females conflict, males can evolve traits that are harmful to females, and females can coevolve traits to resist this harm....
When the reproductive interests of males and females conflict, males can evolve traits that are harmful to females, and females can coevolve traits to resist this harm. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, there is genetic variation in female resistance traits, which can affect the pre- and post-mating success of males that try to mate with them. However, it is not clear to what extent the expression of these phenotypes can be modified by environmental factors such as sociosexual experience. Here, we tested how the genetic background of a female and her previous mating experience interact to affect the mating success of focal males. In the experience phase, we placed females from 28 distinct genetic backgrounds individually either with a single male (low conflict) or with three males (high conflict) for 48 hr. In the subsequent test phase, we measured the mating and post-mating fertilization success of focal males paired individually with each female. We found that focal males paired with females from the high-conflict treatment were less successful at mating, took longer to mate when they were successful, and had a lower proportion of paternity share. Furthermore, we identified significant female genetic variation associated with male mating success. These results indicate that female experience, along with intrinsic genetic factors, can independently influence different fitness components of her subsequent mates and has implications for our understanding of plastic female mating strategies and the evolution of sexually antagonistic traits in males and females.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Male; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 33128417
DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13729 -
Folia Primatologica; International... 2018Many aspects of primate reproductive anatomy and physiology have been influenced by copulatory and postcopulatory sexual selection, especially so in taxa where... (Review)
Review
Many aspects of primate reproductive anatomy and physiology have been influenced by copulatory and postcopulatory sexual selection, especially so in taxa where multiple-partner matings by females result in the sperm of rival males competing for access to a given set of ova (sperm competition). However, the female reproductive system also exerts profound effects upon sperm survival, storage and transport, raising the possibility that female traits influence male reproductive success (via cryptic female choice). Current knowledge of sperm competition and cryptic choice in primates and other mammals is reviewed here. The relevance of these comparative studies to our understanding of human reproduction and evolution is discussed.
Topics: Animals; Copulation; Female; Male; Mating Preference, Animal; Primates
PubMed: 29804108
DOI: 10.1159/000488105 -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Apr 2019Dispersal is ubiquitous throughout the tree of life: factors selecting for dispersal include kin competition, inbreeding avoidance and spatiotemporal variation in... (Review)
Review
Dispersal is ubiquitous throughout the tree of life: factors selecting for dispersal include kin competition, inbreeding avoidance and spatiotemporal variation in resources or habitat suitability. These factors differ in whether they promote male and female dispersal equally strongly, and often selection on dispersal of one sex depends on how much the other disperses. For example, for inbreeding avoidance it can be sufficient that one sex disperses away from the natal site. Attempts to understand sex-specific dispersal evolution have created a rich body of theoretical literature, which we review here. We highlight an interesting gap between empirical and theoretical literature. The former associates different patterns of sex-biased dispersal with mating systems, such as female-biased dispersal in monogamous birds and male-biased dispersal in polygynous mammals. The predominant explanation is traceable back to Greenwood's () ideas of how successful philopatric or dispersing individuals are at gaining mates or the resources required to attract them. Theory, however, has developed surprisingly independently of these ideas: models typically track how immigration and emigration change relatedness patterns and alter competition for limiting resources. The limiting resources are often considered sexually distinct, with breeding sites and fertilizable females limiting reproductive success for females and males, respectively. We show that the link between mating system and sex-biased dispersal is far from resolved: there are studies showing that mating systems matter, but the oft-stated association between polygyny and male-biased dispersal is not a straightforward theoretical expectation. Here, an important understudied factor is the extent to which movement is interpretable as an extension of mate-searching (e.g. are matings possible en route or do they only happen after settling in new habitat - or can females perhaps move with stored sperm). We also point out other new directions for bridging the gap between empirical and theoretical studies: there is a need to build Greenwood's influential yet verbal explanation into formal models, which also includes the possibility that an individual benefits from mobility as it leads to fitness gains in more than one final breeding location (a possibility not present in models with a very rigid deme structure). The order of life-cycle events is likewise important, as this impacts whether a departing individual leaves behind important resources for its female or male kin, or perhaps both, in the case of partially overlapping resource use.
Topics: Animal Distribution; Animals; Biological Evolution; Female; Genetic Fitness; Inbreeding; Male; Sex Characteristics; Sex Factors; Sex Ratio; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 30353655
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12475 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences Jun 2021Traumatic mating is the male wounding his mate during mating using specialized anatomy. However, why males have evolved to injure their mates during mating remains...
Traumatic mating is the male wounding his mate during mating using specialized anatomy. However, why males have evolved to injure their mates during mating remains poorly understood. We studied traumatic mating in to determine its effects on male and female fitness. The sharp teeth on male gonostyli penetrate the female genitalia and cause copulatory wounds, and the number of scars on the female genitals is positively related to the number of times females mated. When the injurious teeth were encased with low-temperature wax, preventing their penetration of the female's genitalia during mating, male mating success and copulation duration were reduced significantly, indicating the importance of the teeth in allowing the male to secure copulation, remain in copula and effectively inseminate his mate. The remating experiments showed that traumatic mating had little effect on the female mating refractory period, but significantly reduced female remating duration with subsequent males, probably benefiting the first-mating male with longer copulation duration and transferring more sperm into the female's spermatheca. The copulatory wounds reduced female fecundity, but did not accelerate the timing of egg deposition. This is probably the first report that traumatic mating reduces female remating duration through successive remating experiments in animals. Overall, our results provide evidence that traumatic mating in the scorpionfly helps increase the male's anchoring control during mating and provides him advantage in sperm competition, but at the expense of lowering female fecundity.
Topics: Animals; Copulation; Female; Fertility; Male; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Spermatozoa
PubMed: 34074125
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0235 -
Journal of Chemical Ecology Sep 2018Chemicals released into the environment by food, predators and conspecifics play critical roles in Drosophila reproduction. Females and males live in an environment full... (Review)
Review
Chemicals released into the environment by food, predators and conspecifics play critical roles in Drosophila reproduction. Females and males live in an environment full of smells, whose molecules communicate to them the availability of food, potential mates, competitors or predators. Volatile chemicals derived from fruit, yeast growing on the fruit, and flies already present on the fruit attract Drosophila, concentrating flies at food sites, where they will also mate. Species-specific cuticular hydrocarbons displayed on female Drosophila as they mature are sensed by males and act as pheromones to stimulate mating by conspecific males and inhibit heterospecific mating. The pheromonal profile of a female is also responsive to her nutritional environment, providing an honest signal of her fertility potential. After mating, cuticular and semen hydrocarbons transferred by the male change the female's chemical profile. These molecules make the female less attractive to other males, thus protecting her mate's sperm investment. Females have evolved the capacity to counteract this inhibition by ejecting the semen hydrocarbon (along with the rest of the remaining ejaculate) a few hours after mating. Although this ejection can temporarily restore the female's attractiveness, shortly thereafter another male pheromone, a seminal peptide, decreases the female's propensity to re-mate, thus continuing to protect the male's investment. Females use olfaction and taste sensing to select optimal egg-laying sites, integrating cues for the availability of food for her offspring, and the presence of other flies and of harmful species. We argue that taking into account evolutionary considerations such as sexual conflict, and the ecological conditions in which flies live, is helpful in understanding the role of highly species-specific pheromones and blends thereof, as well as an individual's response to the chemical cues in its environment.
Topics: Animals; Cues; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Hydrocarbons; Reproduction; Semen; Sex Attractants; Sexual Behavior, Animal; Species Specificity
PubMed: 29557077
DOI: 10.1007/s10886-018-0947-z -
Journal of Evolutionary Biology Feb 2021The satyr of Greek mythology was half-man, half-goat, with an animal persona signifying immoderate sexual appetites. In biology, satyrization is the disruption of...
The satyr of Greek mythology was half-man, half-goat, with an animal persona signifying immoderate sexual appetites. In biology, satyrization is the disruption of reproduction in matings between closely related species. Interestingly, its effects are often reciprocally asymmetric, manifesting more strongly in one direction of heterospecific mating than the other. Heterospecific matings are well known to result in female fitness costs due to the production of sterile or inviable hybrid offspring and can also occur due to reduced female sexual receptivity, lowering the likelihood of any subsequent conspecific matings. Here we investigated the costs and mechanisms of satyrization in the Drosophila melanogaster species subgroup of fruitflies. The results showed that D. simulans females experienced higher fitness costs from a loss of remating opportunities due to significantly reduced post-mating sexual receptivity than did D. melanogaster females, as a result of reciprocal heterospecific matings. Reciprocal tests of the effects of male reproductive accessory gland protein (Acp) injections on female receptivity in pairwise comparisons between D. melanogaster and five other species within the melanogaster species subgroup revealed significant post-mating receptivity asymmetries. This was due to variation in the effects of heterospecific Acps within species with which D. melanogaster can mate, and significant but nonasymmetric Acp effects in species with which it cannot. We conclude that asymmetric satyrization due to post-mating effects of Acps may be common among diverging and hybridising species. The findings are of interest in understanding the evolution of reproductive isolation and species divergence.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila simulans; Female; Male; Reproductive Isolation; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 33159350
DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13733 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2022Darwin's theory of sexual selection provides a useful framework for understanding the behavior of stepparents. A non-human animal whose new mate has dependent young may... (Review)
Review
Darwin's theory of sexual selection provides a useful framework for understanding the behavior of stepparents. A non-human animal whose new mate has dependent young may kill, ignore, or adopt the predecessor's progeny. The third option has been interpreted as courtship ("mating effort"), and whether selection favors such investment over killing or ignoring the young apparently depends on aspects of the species-typical ecology and demography. The tripartite categorization of responses is a simplification, however, There is variability both within and between species along a continuum from rejection to "full adoption." The average stepparent invests less than the average birth parent, but more than nothing. Human stepparents have often been found to kill young children at higher rates than birth parents, but stepparental infanticide cannot plausibly be interpreted as a human adaptation, both because it is extremely rare and because it is almost certainly more likely to reduce the killer's fitness than to raise it. How sexual selection theory remains relevant to human stepparenting is by suggesting testable hypotheses about predictors of the variability in stepparental investment.
PubMed: 35769745
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.924238 -
Scientific Reports Jan 2021Reproductive fitness and survival are enhanced by adaptive behaviors that are modulated by internal physiological states and external social contexts. The common bed...
Reproductive fitness and survival are enhanced by adaptive behaviors that are modulated by internal physiological states and external social contexts. The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, is an obligate hematophagous ectoparasite that requires host blood for growth, development, and reproduction. We investigated how mating, starvation and social interactions affect host-seeking, blood feeding, oviposition, and survival of female bed bugs. The percentage of females that fed and the amount of blood they ingested were greater in mated females (90-100%) than in unmated females (48-60%). Mating state also modulated the female's orientation towards human skin odor in an olfactometer; more mated (69%) than unmated (23%) females responded to human odors. The response rate of unmated females (60%) to skin odor increased with longer starvation period, while the opposite pattern was observed in mated females (20%). Although fecundity after a single blood meal was unaffected by long or short residence and interaction with males, females subjected to frequent copulation attempts had lower survivorship and lifespan than females housed with males for only 24 h. Taken together, these results indicate that by adaptively and coordinately expressing behaviors based on the internal physiological state, females maximize their survival and reproductive fitness.
Topics: Animals; Bedbugs; Copulation; Ectoparasitic Infestations; Feeding Behavior; Female; Fertility; Humans; Reproduction; Sexual Behavior, Animal
PubMed: 33479298
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-81271-y