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Female reproductive investment in response to male phenotype in wall lizards and its implications for introgression

While, Geoffrey M and Uller, Tobias LU (2017) In Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 121(4). p.876-882
Abstract

The likelihood that females will breed or how much they invest in reproduction can depend on the characters of their male partners. Such differential allocation may enhance or limit gene flow between hybridizing lineages, in particular when the lineages have diverged in sexually selected characters. Populations of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) in some regions of Italy exhibit striking exaggeration of coloration, morphology and behaviour compared to populations in France. The two forms hybridize in north-western Italy. Gene flow is directional and in concordance with the prediction that the exaggerated sexual characters of lizards of Italian origin give them a mating advantage. To evaluate if differential allocation... (More)

The likelihood that females will breed or how much they invest in reproduction can depend on the characters of their male partners. Such differential allocation may enhance or limit gene flow between hybridizing lineages, in particular when the lineages have diverged in sexually selected characters. Populations of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) in some regions of Italy exhibit striking exaggeration of coloration, morphology and behaviour compared to populations in France. The two forms hybridize in north-western Italy. Gene flow is directional and in concordance with the prediction that the exaggerated sexual characters of lizards of Italian origin give them a mating advantage. To evaluate if differential allocation contributes to asymmetric introgression, we tested experimentally if female reproductive investment is affected by male origin and male secondary sexual characters. Despite the large genetic and phenotypic divergence between males of Italian and French origin, females did not invest more when paired with males of the same origin, nor when paired with males with highly expressed sexual characters. Combined, these results suggest that female responses to male phenotypes in wall lizards are unimportant for explaining the directional pattern of gene flow in regions of secondary contact.

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author
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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Hybridization, Introgression, Reproductive allocation, Sexual selection, Wall lizard
in
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
volume
121
issue
4
pages
7 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85029235285
  • wos:000406924100013
ISSN
0024-4066
DOI
10.1093/biolinnean/blx025
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
761ad14a-3f63-4d84-9f8a-8831e490a00c
date added to LUP
2017-10-04 11:20:30
date last changed
2024-05-12 22:00:38
@article{761ad14a-3f63-4d84-9f8a-8831e490a00c,
  abstract     = {{<p>The likelihood that females will breed or how much they invest in reproduction can depend on the characters of their male partners. Such differential allocation may enhance or limit gene flow between hybridizing lineages, in particular when the lineages have diverged in sexually selected characters. Populations of the common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) in some regions of Italy exhibit striking exaggeration of coloration, morphology and behaviour compared to populations in France. The two forms hybridize in north-western Italy. Gene flow is directional and in concordance with the prediction that the exaggerated sexual characters of lizards of Italian origin give them a mating advantage. To evaluate if differential allocation contributes to asymmetric introgression, we tested experimentally if female reproductive investment is affected by male origin and male secondary sexual characters. Despite the large genetic and phenotypic divergence between males of Italian and French origin, females did not invest more when paired with males of the same origin, nor when paired with males with highly expressed sexual characters. Combined, these results suggest that female responses to male phenotypes in wall lizards are unimportant for explaining the directional pattern of gene flow in regions of secondary contact.</p>}},
  author       = {{While, Geoffrey M and Uller, Tobias}},
  issn         = {{0024-4066}},
  keywords     = {{Hybridization; Introgression; Reproductive allocation; Sexual selection; Wall lizard}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{876--882}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Biological Journal of the Linnean Society}},
  title        = {{Female reproductive investment in response to male phenotype in wall lizards and its implications for introgression}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blx025}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/biolinnean/blx025}},
  volume       = {{121}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}