Sexual Conflict

About this book

The past decade has seen a profound change in the scientific understanding of reproduction. The traditional view of reproduction as a joint venture undertaken by two individuals, aimed at replicating their common genome, is being challenged by a growing body of evidence showing that the evolutionary interests of interacting males and females diverge. This book demonstrates that, despite a shared genome, conflicts between interacting males and females are ubiquitous, and that selection in the two sexes is continuously pulling this genome in opposite directions. These conflicts drive the evolution of a great variety of those traits that distinguish the sexes and also contribute to the diversification of lineages. Goran Arnqvist and Locke Rowe present an array of evidence for sexual conflict throughout nature, and they set these conflicts into the well - established theoretical framework of sexual selection.

Contents

Preface xi Chapter 1: Sexual Conflict in Nature 1 1.1 Evolving Views of Sex and Reproduction 2 1.2 Sexually Antagonistic Selection and Sexual Conflict 6 1.2.1 Intralocus Sexual Conflict 7 1.2.2 Interlocus Sexual Conflict 10 1.3 Aims and Scope 11 Chapter 2: Sexual Selection and Sexual Conflict: History,Theory,and Empirical Avenues 14 2.1 Darwin 's Views on Sexual Selection 14 2.2 The Fisher Process 18 2.3 Indicator,or Good Genes,Mechanisms 22 2.4 The Male Trait 25 2.5 Direct Benefits 26 2.6 Preexisting Biases and the Origin of the Preference 27 2.7 Sexual Conflict 29 2.7.1 Parker's Initial Models of Sexual Conflict 30 2.7.2 Genetic Models 31 2.7.3 Phenotype-Dependent and Phenotype-Independent Costs 34 2.7.4 Nonequilibrium Models 35 2.8 Sexual Conflict Set in the Framework of Sexual Selection 35 2.9 The Roles of the Sexes in Sexual Conflict 38 2.10 Empirical Approaches to the Study of Sexual Conflict 40 Chapter 3: Sexual Conflict Prior to Mating 44 3.1 The Economy of Mating and the Evolution of Resistance 45 3.1.1 Direct Costs of Mating 45 3.1.2 Costs of Low Mate Quality 46 3.1.3 Costs of Resisting Mating 47 3.1.4 Costs to Females as a Side Effect of Male-Male Competition 48 3.1.5 Sexual Conflict and the Evolution of Sexual Cannibalism by Females 50 3.1.6 Sexual Conflict and the Evolution of Infanticide by Males 53 3.2 Adaptations for Persistence and Resistance 55 3.2.1 Harassment and Resistance 57 3.2.2 Grasping Traits 60 3.2.3 Antigrasping Traits and Other Forms of Resistance 68 3.2.4 Exploitation of Sensory Biases 71 3.2.5 Convenience Polyandry 77 3.3 Sexual Conflict and Sexual Selection 78 3.4 Mate "Screening" and Other Alternative Explanations for Resistance Traits 80 3.5 Case Studies in Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution 83 3.5.1 Diving Beetles 83 3.5.2 Water Striders 84 3.5.3 Bedbugs 87 Chapter 4: Sexual Conflict after Mating 92 4.1 Female Reproductive Effort and the Conflicting Interests of the Sexes 96 4.1.1 Seminal Substances with Gonadotropic Effects 97 4.1.2 Nuptial Feeding 102 4.1.3 Male Display Traits 103 4.2 Female Mating Behavior, Sperm Competition, and the Conflicting Interests of the Sexes 106 4.2.1 Male Defensive Adaptations and Sexual Conflict 107 4.2.1.1 Costs of Delaying Remating in Females 111 4.2.1.2 Female Costs as Side Effects 116 4.2.1.3 Female Costs as a Direct Target of Male Strategies 118 4.2.2 Male Offensive Adaptations and Sexual Conflict 121 4.2.2.1 Sperm Competition and Aggressive Ejaculates 121 4.2.2.2 Direct Costs, Polyspermy, and Female Infertility 122 4.2.2.3 Indirect Costs and Deleterious Matings 128 4.2.2.4 Conflicts over Cryptic Female Choice 129 4.3 Conflicts over the Duration of Mating 132 4.3.1 Male and Female Adaptations 135 4.4 Postmating Conflicts and Male-Female Coevolution 139 4.5 Elaborated Male Ejaculates: Nuptial Gifts or Medea Gifts? 140 4.6 Are Male Postmating Adaptations Costly to Females? 146 4.7 It Takes Two to Tango: Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution in Fruit Flies 149 Chapter 5: Parental Care and Sexual Conflict 156 5.1 The Basic Conflict 156 5.2 Mate Desertion 158 5.2.1 Conflict over Care and Desertion in Uniparental Species 158 5.2.2 Never Trust a Penduline Tit! 160 5.3 "Partial "Mate Desertion and Sexual Conflict over the Mating System in Biparental Species 164 5.4 Sexual Conflict over the Relative Amount of Care in Biparental Monogamous Species 170 5.5 The Dunnock: Family Life in Cambridge University Botanic Garden 174 Chapter 6: Other Implications of Sexual Conflict 179 6.1 The Evolution of Genomic Imprinting 179 6.2 Sexual Conflict, Sex Ratios, and Sex Allocation 183 6.3 Dueling Worms and Stabbing Snails: Sexual Conflict within Hermaphrodites 185 6.3.1 Premating Conflict in Hermaphrodites 187 6.3.2 Postmating Conflict in Hermaphrodites 190 6.3.3 Sexual Selection and Antagonistic Coevolution in Hermaphrodites 192 6.3.4 The Love Dart in Snails--A Shot at Paternity? 196 6.4 Sexual Conflict in Plants 200 6.5 Sexual Conflict, Speciation, and Extinction 203 6.5.1 Sexual Conflict as an Engine of Evolutionary Divergence 207 6.5.2 Population Crosses--Inferring Process from Pattern 210 6.6 Sexual Conflict and Sex Chromosomes 212 Chapter 7: Concepts and Levels of Sexual Conflict 216 7.1 Levels of Analysis 216 7.2 Resolution of Sexual Conflict 219 7.3 Winners and Losers of Sexual Conflict? 220 7.4 Sexual Conflict over the Control of Interactions 222 7.5 The Intensity of Sexual Conflict 223 7.6 Sexual Conflict over Mate Choice 224 Chapter 8: Concluding Remarks 226 References 229 Author Index 305 Subject Index 321

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Biography

Goran Arnqvist is an associate professor in the Department of Animal Ecology at the University of Uppsala. Locke Rowe is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Zoology at the University of Toronto.