Mate choice based on body size similarity in sexually dimorphic populations causes strong sexual selection

López‐Cortegano, Eugenio; Carpena-Catoira, Carla; Carvajal-Rodríguez, Antonio; Rolán‐Alvarez, Emilio

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.12.005

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Similar results have been obtained previously under some theoretical models and specific parameter range (see e.g. Rettelbach et al, 2013;Cotto and Servedio, 2017;Sachdeva and Barton, 2017 and references therein) and it is interesting that we have obtained the same result with a model for the specific case of L. saxatilis in the Galician coast using empirical estimates of the parameters (when available) and that the intermediate choosiness obtained in the simulations matches quite well empirical estimates of L. saxatilis and other littorinids (Fernández-Meirama et al, 2017a, 2017bLópez-Cortegano et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

A simulation study of the ecological speciation conditions in the Galician marine snailLittorina saxatilis

Fernández-Meirama

Rolán‐Alvarez

Carvajal-Rodríguez

2022

Preprint

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In the last years the interest on evolutionary divergence at small spatial scales has increased and so did the study of speciation caused by ecologically-based divergent natural selection. The evolutionary interplay between gene flow and local adaptation can lead to low-dispersal locally adapted specialists. When this occurs the evolutionary interplay between gene flow and local adaptation could eventually lead to speciation. The L. saxatilis system consists of two ecotypes displaying a microhabitat-associated intraspecific dimorphism along the wave-exposed rocky shores of Galicia. In spite of being a well-known system, the dynamics of the ecotype formation remains unclear and cannot be studied from empirical evidence alone. In this study, individual-based simulations were used to incorporate relevant ecological, spatial and genetic information, to check different evolutionary scenarios that could evolve non-random mating preferences and finally may facilitate speciation. As main results, we observed the evolution of intermediate values of choice which matches estimates from empirical data of L. saxatilis in Galician shores and coincides with previous theoretical outcomes. Also, the use of the mating correlation as a proxy for assortative mating led to spuriously inferring greater reproductive isolation in the middle habitat than in the others, which does not happen when directly considering the choice values from the simulations. We also corroborate the well-known fact that the occurrence of speciation is influenced by the strength of selection. Taken together, this means, also according to other L. saxatilis systems, that speciation is not an immediate consequence of local divergent selection and mating preferences, but a fine tuning among several factors including the ecological conditions in the shore levels, the selection strength, the mate choice stringency and cost to choosiness. The L. saxatilis system could correspond to a case of incomplete reproductive isolation, where choice intensity is intermediate and local adaptation within the habitat is strong. These results support previous interpretations of the L. saxatilis model system and indicate that further empirical studies would be interesting to test whether the mate choice mechanism functions as a similarity-like mechanism as has been shown in other littorinids.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

A simulation study of the ecological speciation conditions in the Galician marine snailLittorina saxatilis

Fernández-Meirama

Rolán‐Alvarez

Carvajal-Rodríguez

2022

Preprint

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“…For each year, sexual fitness was estimated in Abelleira and both locations in the White Sea by comparing shell colors before (unmated individuals) and after (mated individuals) selection (Arnold and Wade, 1984;Rolán-Alvarez and Caballero, 2000;López-Cortegano et al, 2020). The individuals belonged exclusively to one of these two groups.…”

Section: Estimation Of Sexual Fitnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mate Choice Contributes to the Maintenance of Shell Color Polymorphism in a Marine Snail via Frequency-Dependent Sexual Selection

et al. 2020

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Natural color polymorphisms are widespread across animal species and usually have a simple genetic basis. This makes them an ideal system to study the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for maintaining biodiversity. In some populations of the intertidal snail Littorina fabalis, variation in shell color has remained stable for years, but the mechanisms responsible are unknown. Previous studies suggest that this stability could be caused by frequency-dependent sexual selection, but this hypothesis has not been tested. We analyzed shell color polymorphism in mating pairs and surrounding unmated individuals in two different populations of L. fabalis to estimate sexual fitness for color, as well as assortative mating. The estimated effective population size from neutral markers allowed us to disregard genetic drift as the main source of color frequency changes across generations. Shell color frequency was significantly correlated with sexual fitness showing a pattern of negative frequency dependent selection with high disassortative mating for color. The results suggested a contribution of male mate choice to maintain the polymorphism. Finally, the implementation of a multi-model inference approach based on information theory allowed us to test for the relative contribution of mate choice and mate competition to explain the maintenance of color polymorphism in this snail species.

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“…saxatilis in the Galician coast using empirical estimates of the parameters (when available) and that the intermediate choosiness obtained in the simulations matches quite well empirical estimates of L . saxatilis and other littorinids ( Fernández-Meirama et al, 2017a ; Fernández-Meirama et al, 2017b ; López-Cortegano et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Simulation Study of the Ecological Speciation Conditions in the Galician Marine Snail Littorina saxatilis

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the last years, the interest in evolutionary divergence at small spatial scales has increased and so did the study of speciation caused by ecologically based divergent natural selection. The evolutionary interplay between gene flow and local adaptation can lead to low-dispersal locally adapted specialists. When this occurs, the evolutionary interplay between gene flow and local adaptation could eventually lead to speciation. The L. saxatilis system consists of two ecotypes displaying a microhabitat-associated intraspecific dimorphism along the wave-exposed rocky shores of Galicia. Despite being a well-known system, the dynamics of the ecotype formation remain unclear and cannot be studied from empirical evidence alone. In this study, individual-based simulations were used to incorporate relevant ecological, spatial, and genetic information, to check different evolutionary scenarios that could evolve non-random mating preferences and finally may facilitate speciation. As main results, we observed the evolution of intermediate values of choice which matches the estimates from empirical data of L. saxatilis in Galician shores and coincides with previous theoretical outcomes. Also, the use of the mating correlation as a proxy for assortative mating led to spuriously inferring greater reproductive isolation in the middle habitat than in the others, which does not happen when directly considering the choice values from the simulations. We also corroborate the well-known fact that the occurrence of speciation is influenced by the strength of selection. Taken together, this means, also according to other L. saxatilis systems, that speciation is not an immediate consequence of local divergent selection and mating preferences, but a fine tuning among several factors including the ecological conditions in the shore levels, the selection strength, the mate choice stringency, and cost to choosiness. The L. saxatilis system could correspond to a case of incomplete reproductive isolation, where the choice intensity is intermediate and local adaptation within the habitat is strong. These results support previous interpretations of the L. saxatilis model system and indicate that further empirical studies would be interesting to test whether the mate choice mechanism functions as a similarity-like mechanism as has been shown in other littorinids.

show abstract

Mate choice based on body size similarity in sexually dimorphic populations causes strong sexual selection

Cited by 12 publications

References 36 publications

A simulation study of the ecological speciation conditions in the Galician marine snailLittorina saxatilis

A simulation study of the ecological speciation conditions in the Galician marine snailLittorina saxatilis

Mate Choice Contributes to the Maintenance of Shell Color Polymorphism in a Marine Snail via Frequency-Dependent Sexual Selection

A Simulation Study of the Ecological Speciation Conditions in the Galician Marine Snail Littorina saxatilis

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