On the Evolutionary Consequences of Sexual Imprinting

Laland, Kevin N.

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1994.tb01325.x

Cited by 106 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…Our results provide new insight into the role of imprinting in speciation, providing an explanation for the conflicting evidence from previous theoretical and empirical studies of imprinting [9,10,42]. It is not imprinting per se that generates sexual isolation but imprinting that is linked to ecological differences, such as when parental traits underlying mate preference are subject to ecologically divergent selection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Adaptation to different ecological niches may be a particularly common mechanism driving parental trait divergence. However, parental traits could diverge through sexual selection or genetic drift and imprinting could still produce assortative mating [42]. Lake Victoria cichlid species differ in sexually selected nuptial colour and offspring may imprint on these colour differences [46,47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

2011

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During sexual imprinting, offspring learn parental phenotypes and then select mates who are similar to their parents. Imprinting has been thought to contribute to the process of speciation in only a few rare cases; this is despite imprinting's potential to generate assortative mating and solve the problem of recombination in ecological speciation. If offspring imprint on parental traits under divergent selection, these traits will then be involved in both adaptation and mate preference. Such 'magic traits' easily generate sexual isolation and facilitate speciation. In this study, we show that imprinting occurs in two ecologically divergent stickleback species (benthics and limnetics: Gasterosteus spp.). Cross-fostered females preferred mates of their foster father's species. Furthermore, imprinting is essential for sexual isolation between species; isolation was reduced when females were raised without fathers. Daughters imprinted on father odour and colour during a critical period early in development. These traits have diverged between the species owing to differences in ecology. Therefore, we provide the first evidence that imprinting links ecological adaptation to sexual isolation between species. Our results suggest that imprinting may facilitate the evolution of sexual isolation during ecological speciation, may be especially important in cases of rapid diversification, and thus play an integral role in the generation of biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

2011

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“…In song-birds, for example, young males commonly learn to match their song to that of adults in the vicinity and females learn to prefer song types they hear in early life [53]. This may cause lifelong mating preferences, assortative mating and perhaps even speciation [54,55]. Such downstream effects of social learning may be less common in mammals, where mate choice relies heavily on olfactory and morphological signals which are unaffected by learning, and where male coercion often masks the effects of female choice [56].…”

Section: Social Learning and Individual Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, in passerines and cetaceans where songs are learned, they must, by definition, be learned from others. As male song is commonly involved in female mate choice, female preferences for song dialects from their local area could theoretically cause pre-zygotic isolation between populations, ultimately leading to speciation [54,55]. Explicit empirical tests of this prediction have yet to be conducted.…”

Section: Broader Implications (A)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning and the development of individual and group behaviour in mammal societies

Thornton

Clutton‐Brock

2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

181

140

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As in human societies, social learning may play an important role in shaping individual and group characteristics in other mammals. Here, we review research on non-primate mammals, concentrating on work at our long-term meerkat study site, where longitudinal data and field experiments have generated important insights into the role of social learning under natural conditions. Meerkats live under high predation pressure and occupy a difficult foraging niche. Accordingly, pups make extensive use of social information in learning to avoid predation and obtain food. Where individual learning is costly or opportunities are lacking, as in the acquisition of prey-handling skills, adults play an active role in promoting learning through teaching. Social learning can also cause information to spread through groups, but our data suggest that this does not necessarily result in homogeneous, group-wide traditions. Moreover, traditions are commonly eroded by individual learning. We suggest that traditions will only persist where there are high costs of deviating from the group norm or where skill development requires extensive time and effort. Persistent traditions could, theoretically, modify selection pressures and influence genetic evolution. Further empirical studies of social learning in natural populations are now urgently needed to substantiate theoretical claims.

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“…In this section, we consider briefly what happens if there are mixed marriages in which the two partners retain distinct allegiances. Our approach draws on the biology literature on imprinting (especially [54], but also [55,56]). We make the following assumptions.…”

Section: (B) Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religion, fertility and genes: a dual inheritance model

Rowthorn

2011

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Religious people nowadays have more children on average than their secular counterparts. This paper uses a simple model to explore the evolutionary implications of this difference. It assumes that fertility is determined entirely by culture, whereas subjective predisposition towards religion is influenced by genetic endowment. People who carry a certain 'religiosity' gene are more likely than average to become or remain religious. The paper considers the effect of religious defections and exogamy on the religious and genetic composition of society. Defections reduce the ultimate share of the population with religious allegiance and slow down the spread of the religiosity gene. However, provided the fertility differential persists, and people with a religious allegiance mate mainly with people like themselves, the religiosity gene will eventually predominate despite a high rate of defection. This is an example of 'cultural hitchhiking', whereby a gene spreads because it is able to hitch a ride with a high-fitness cultural practice. The theoretical arguments are supported by numerical simulations.

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On the Evolutionary Consequences of Sexual Imprinting

Cited by 106 publications

References 29 publications

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

Sexual imprinting on ecologically divergent traits leads to sexual isolation in sticklebacks

Social learning and the development of individual and group behaviour in mammal societies

Religion, fertility and genes: a dual inheritance model

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