scholarly journals Sexual selection and the evolution of male and female cognition: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Baur ◽  
Jean d’Amour ◽  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Potential Force ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Seed Beetles

Abstract“The mating mind hypothesis”, originally aimed at explaining human cognition, holds that the socio-sexual environment shapes cognitive abilities among animals. Similarly, general sexual selection theory predicts that mate competition should benefit individuals carrying “good genes” with beneficial pleiotropic effects on general cognitive ability. However, few experimental studies have evaluated these related hypotheses due to difficulties of performing direct tests in most taxa. Here we harnessed the empirical potential of the seed beetle study system to investigate the role of sexual selection and mating system in the evolution of cognition. We evolved replicate lines of beetle under enforced monogamy (eliminating sexual selection) or polygamy for 35 generations and then challenged them to locate and discriminate among mating partners (male assays) or host seeds (female assays). To assess learning, the same beetles performed the task in three consecutive rounds. All lines learned the task, improving both within and between trails. Moreover, polygamous males outperformed monogamous males. However, there were no differences in the rate of learning between males of the two regimes, and polygamous females showed no improvement in host search, and even signs of reduced learning. Hence, while sexual selection was a potent factor that increased cognitive performance in mate search, it did not lead to the general increase in cognitive abilities expected under the “mating mind” hypothesis or general “good genes” theory. Our results highlight sexually antagonistic (balancing) selection as a potential force maintaining genetic variation in cognitive traits.

Sweet FA: The trouble with fluctuating asymmetry

2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 616-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Montgomerie
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Sexual Strategies ◽  
Empirical Basis ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory

Studies of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in relation to sexual strategies in humans provide the empirical basis for many arguments in support of good genes sexual selection theory. Many FA studies, however, are flawed by bias in experimental design, inconsistent statistical analysis, and the sloppy handling of data.

scholarly journals Sexual selection theory meets disease vector control: Testing harmonic convergence as a “good genes” signal in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. e0009540
Author(s):  
Garrett P. League ◽  
Laura C. Harrington ◽  
Sylvie A. Pitcher ◽  
Julie K. Geyer ◽  
Lindsay L. Baxter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Harmonic Convergence ◽  
Dynamics And Control ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Inherent Quality

Background The mosquito Aedes aegypti is a medically important, globally distributed vector of the viruses that cause dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika. Although reproduction and mate choice are key components of vector population dynamics and control, our understanding of the mechanisms of sexual selection in mosquitoes remains poor. In “good genes” models of sexual selection, females use male cues as an indicator of both mate and offspring genetic quality. Recent studies in Ae. aegypti provide evidence that male wingbeats may signal aspects of offspring quality and performance during mate selection in a process known as harmonic convergence. However, the extent to which harmonic convergence may signal overall inherent quality of mates and their offspring remains unknown. Methodology/Principal findings To examine this, we measured the relationship between acoustic signaling and a broad panel of parent and offspring fitness traits in two generations of field-derived Ae. aegypti originating from dengue-endemic field sites in Thailand. Our data show that in this population of mosquitoes, harmonic convergence does not signal male fertility, female fecundity, or male flight performance traits, which despite displaying robust variability in both parents and their offspring were only weakly heritable. Conclusions/Significance Together, our findings suggest that vector reproductive control programs should treat harmonic convergence as an indicator of some, but not all aspects of inherent quality, and that sexual selection likely affects Ae. aegypti in a trait-, population-, and environment-dependent manner.

scholarly journals Sexual selection, environmental robustness and evolutionary demography of maladapted populations: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivain Martinossi-Allibert ◽  
Emma Thilliez ◽  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
Environmental Robustness ◽  
Seed Beetles

AbstractWhether sexual selection impedes or aids adaptation has become a pressing question in times of rapid environmental change and parallels the debate about how the evolution of individual traits impacts on population dynamics and viability. The net effect of sexual selection on population viability results from a balance between genetic benefits of “good genes” effects and costs of sexual conflict. Depending on how these facets of sexual selection are affected under environmental change, extinction of maladapted populations could either be avoided or accelerated. Here, we evolved seed beetles under three alternative mating regimes (polygamy, monogamy and male-limited selection) to disentangle the contributions of sexual selection, fecundity selection and male-female coevolution to individual reproductive success and population fitness. We compared these contributions between the ancestral environment and two new stressful environments (temperature and host plant shift). Evolution under polygamy resulted in the highest individual reproductive success in competitive context for both sexes. Moreover, females evolving only via sexual selection on their male siblings in the male-limited regime had similar reproductive success and higher fertility than females evolving under monogamy, suggesting that sexual selection on males had positive effects on female fitness components. Interestingly, male-limited sexual selection resulted in males that were robust to stress, compared to males from the two evolution regimes applying fecundity selection. We quantified the population-level consequences of this sex-specific adaptation and found evidence that costs of socio-sexual interactions were higher in male-limited lines compared to polygamous lines, and that this difference was particularly pronounced at elevated temperature to which males from the male-limited regime were more robust compared to their conspecific females. These results illustrate the tension between individual-level adaptation and population-level viability in sexually reproducing species and suggest that sex-specific selection can cause differences in environmental robustness that may impact population demography under environmental change.

scholarly journals Sexual selection theory meets disease vector control: Testing harmonic convergence as a “good genes” signal in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garrett P. League ◽  
Laura C. Harrington ◽  
Sylvie A. Pitcher ◽  
Julie K. Geyer ◽  
Lindsay L. Baxter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Harmonic Convergence ◽  
Dynamics And Control ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Inherent Quality

AbstractThe mosquito Aedes aegypti is a medically important, globally distributed vector of the viruses that cause dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika. Although reproduction and mate choice are key components of vector population dynamics and control, our understanding of the mechanisms of sexual selection in mosquitoes remains poor. In “good genes” models of sexual selection, females use male cues as an indicator of both mate and offspring inherent genetic quality. Recent studies in Ae. aegypti provide evidence that male wingbeat acoustics signal aspects of offspring quality and performance during mate selection in a process known as harmonic convergence. However, the extent to which harmonic convergence may signal overall inherent quality of mates and their offspring remains unknown. To examine this, we measured the potential acoustic signaling and heritability of a broad panel of parent and offspring fitness traits in two generations of field-derived Ae. aegypti originating from dengue endemic field sites in Thailand. Our data show that in this population of mosquitoes, harmonic convergence does not signal male fertility, female fecundity, and male flight performance traits, which despite displaying robust variability in both parents and their offspring were only weakly heritable. Together with previous work, our findings suggest that vector reproductive control programs should treat harmonic convergence as an indicator of some, but not all aspects of inherent quality, and that multiple forms of sexual selection are likely at play in Ae. aegypti in a trait, population, and environment dependent manner.

scholarly journals Extended parenting and the evolution of cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1803) ◽  
pp. 20190495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Uomini ◽  
Joanna Fairlie ◽  
Russell D. Gray ◽  
Michael Griesser
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cultural Learning

Traditional attempts to understand the evolution of human cognition compare humans with other primates. This research showed that relative brain size covaries with cognitive skills, while adaptations that buffer the developmental and energetic costs of large brains (e.g. allomaternal care), and ecological or social benefits of cognitive abilities, are critical for their evolution. To understand the drivers of cognitive adaptations, it is profitable to consider distant lineages with convergently evolved cognitions. Here, we examine the facilitators of cognitive evolution in corvid birds, where some species display cultural learning, with an emphasis on family life. We propose that extended parenting (protracted parent–offspring association) is pivotal in the evolution of cognition: it combines critical life-history, social and ecological conditions allowing for the development and maintenance of cognitive skillsets that confer fitness benefits to individuals. This novel hypothesis complements the extended childhood idea by considering the parents' role in juvenile development. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses, we show that corvids have larger body sizes, longer development times, extended parenting and larger relative brain sizes than other passerines. Case studies from two corvid species with different ecologies and social systems highlight the critical role of life-history features on juveniles’ cognitive development: extended parenting provides a safe haven, access to tolerant role models, reliable learning opportunities and food, resulting in higher survival. The benefits of extended juvenile learning periods, over evolutionary time, lead to selection for expanded cognitive skillsets. Similarly, in our ancestors, cooperative breeding and increased group sizes facilitated learning and teaching. Our analyses highlight the critical role of life-history, ecological and social factors that underlie both extended parenting and expanded cognitive skillsets. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals’.

scholarly journals Darwin's bawdy: the popular, gendered and radical reception of the Descent of Man in the US, 1871–1910

BJHS Themes ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Hamlin
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Scientific Establishment ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
The Us ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Descent Of Man

Abstract Most studies of the American reception of Darwin have focused on the Origin. The Descent of Man, however, was even more widely read and discussed, especially by those outside the emerging scientific establishment. This essay maps the varied, popular and radical responses to the Descent and suggests that these unauthorized readers helped shape the formation of American scientific institutions (by encouraging scientists to close ranks), as well as ordinary Americans’ perceptions of gender and sex. I argue that the radical – freethinkers, socialists and feminists – embrace of sexual selection theory provides one explanation for naturalists’ scepticism of the theory.

More sires may enhance offspring fitness in Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica)

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
pp. 581-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Banger ◽  
Gabriel Blouin-Demers ◽  
Grégory Bulté ◽  
Stephen C. Lougheed
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Locomotor Performance ◽  
Conservative Estimate ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Offspring Fitness ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Map Turtles ◽  
Graptemys Geographica

Sexual selection theory predicts that males should be promiscuous to maximize their reproductive success, while females should be choosy. Yet females of many taxa often produce progeny sired by multiple males, indicating that promiscuity can be important for the reproductive success of females. Promiscuity may enhance the fitness of females if it increases the genetic quality, or the genetic variety, and thus the viability of their offspring. We quantified the number of sires per clutch in a population of Northern Map Turtles (Graptemys geographica (LeSueur, 1817)) in Lake Opinicon, Ontario, Canada, and tested whether the number of sires affects several metrics of viability in hatchlings. Based on the most conservative estimate, at least 71% of clutches in this population are sired by multiple males, but there was no evidence that larger clutches are sired by more males. Clutches sired by more males had higher hatching success and survival, but the differences were not statistically significant. We did not find any effect of the number of sires on hatchling morphology or locomotor performance. Collectively, our results partially support the hypothesis that promiscuity can increase the reproductive success of female Northern Map Turtles.

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