Sexual conflict and intrasexual polymorphism promote assortative mating and halt population differentiation
Iversen, Lars Lønsmann ; Svensson, Erik I. LU
; Christensen, Søren Thromsholdt
; Bergsten, Johannes
and Sand-Jensen, Kaj
(2019)
In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
286(1899).
- Abstract
Sexual conflict is thought to be an important evolutionary force in driving phenotypic diversification, population divergence, and speciation. However, empirical evidence is inconsistent with the generality that sexual conflict enhances population divergence. Here, we demonstrate an alternative evolutionary outcome in which sexual conflict plays a conservative role in maintaining male and female polymorphisms locally, rather than promoting population divergence. In diving beetles, female polymorphisms have evolved in response to male mating harassment and sexual conflict. We present the first empirical evidence that this female polymorphism is associated with (i) two distinct and sympatric male morphological mating clusters (morphs) and... (More)
Sexual conflict is thought to be an important evolutionary force in driving phenotypic diversification, population divergence, and speciation. However, empirical evidence is inconsistent with the generality that sexual conflict enhances population divergence. Here, we demonstrate an alternative evolutionary outcome in which sexual conflict plays a conservative role in maintaining male and female polymorphisms locally, rather than promoting population divergence. In diving beetles, female polymorphisms have evolved in response to male mating harassment and sexual conflict. We present the first empirical evidence that this female polymorphism is associated with (i) two distinct and sympatric male morphological mating clusters (morphs) and (ii) assortative mating between male and female morphs. Changes in mating traits in one sex led to a predictable change in the other sex which leads to predictable within-population evolutionary dynamics in male and female morph frequencies. Our results reveal that sexual conflict can lead to assortative mating between male offence and female defence traits, if a stable male and female mating polymorphisms are maintained. Stable male and female mating polymorphisms are an alternative outcome to an accelerating coevolutionary arms race driven by sexual conflict. Such stable polymorphisms challenge the common view of sexual conflict as an engine of rapid speciation via exaggerated coevolution between sexes.
(Less)
- author
- Iversen, Lars Lønsmann
; Svensson, Erik I.
LU
; Christensen, Søren Thromsholdt
; Bergsten, Johannes
and Sand-Jensen, Kaj
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019-03-20
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- coevolution, population variation, sexual antagonism, spatial structure, sympatric speciation
- in
- Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
- volume
- 286
- issue
- 1899
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:30890096
- scopus:85063255730
- ISSN
- 1471-2954
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.2019.0251
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 608672d6-e089-4fde-84e0-2de03605752f
- date added to LUP
- 2019-04-02 07:42:43
- date last changed
- 2024-04-01 22:48:59
@article{608672d6-e089-4fde-84e0-2de03605752f,
abstract = {{<p>Sexual conflict is thought to be an important evolutionary force in driving phenotypic diversification, population divergence, and speciation. However, empirical evidence is inconsistent with the generality that sexual conflict enhances population divergence. Here, we demonstrate an alternative evolutionary outcome in which sexual conflict plays a conservative role in maintaining male and female polymorphisms locally, rather than promoting population divergence. In diving beetles, female polymorphisms have evolved in response to male mating harassment and sexual conflict. We present the first empirical evidence that this female polymorphism is associated with (i) two distinct and sympatric male morphological mating clusters (morphs) and (ii) assortative mating between male and female morphs. Changes in mating traits in one sex led to a predictable change in the other sex which leads to predictable within-population evolutionary dynamics in male and female morph frequencies. Our results reveal that sexual conflict can lead to assortative mating between male offence and female defence traits, if a stable male and female mating polymorphisms are maintained. Stable male and female mating polymorphisms are an alternative outcome to an accelerating coevolutionary arms race driven by sexual conflict. Such stable polymorphisms challenge the common view of sexual conflict as an engine of rapid speciation via exaggerated coevolution between sexes.</p>}},
author = {{Iversen, Lars Lønsmann and Svensson, Erik I. and Christensen, Søren Thromsholdt and Bergsten, Johannes and Sand-Jensen, Kaj}},
issn = {{1471-2954}},
keywords = {{coevolution; population variation; sexual antagonism; spatial structure; sympatric speciation}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{03}},
number = {{1899}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Sexual conflict and intrasexual polymorphism promote assortative mating and halt population differentiation}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0251}},
doi = {{10.1098/rspb.2019.0251}},
volume = {{286}},
year = {{2019}},
}