The effect of mate choice on speciation in snow petrels

Jouventin, Pierre; Bried, Joël

doi:10.1006/anbe.2001.1713

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Thus, male pregnancy represents an unusual form of parental care with extraordinary evolutionary consequences not only in terms of a reversal in the direction of sexual selection (21,40) but also in a likely predisposition for sympatric speciation. Other taxa with male parental care or other social constraints that lead to assortative mating may provide fruitful opportunities to discover additional examples of lineages in which assortative mating has been important to the speciation process (41,42). Future research involving seahorses and pipefish will be necessary to resolve the relative importance of sympatric versus allopatric speciation in the diversification of the speciose family Syngnathidae.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sympatric speciation as a consequence of male pregnancy in seahorses

Jones

Moore

Kvarnemo

et al. 2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The phenomenon of male pregnancy in the family Syngnathidae (seahorses, pipefishes, and sea dragons) undeniably has sculpted the course of behavioral evolution in these fishes. Here we explore another potentially important but previously unrecognized consequence of male pregnancy: a predisposition for sympatric speciation. We present microsatellite data on genetic parentage that show that seahorses mate size-assortatively in nature. We then develop a quantitative genetic model based on these empirical findings to demonstrate that sympatric speciation indeed can occur under this mating regime in response to weak disruptive selection on body size. We also evaluate phylogenetic evidence bearing on sympatric speciation by asking whether tiny seahorse species are sister taxa to large sympatric relatives. Overall, our results indicate that sympatric speciation is a plausible mechanism for the diversification of seahorses, and that assortative mating (in this case as a result of male parental care) may warrant broader attention in the speciation process for some other taxonomic groups as well.ince the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology, the prevailing belief has been that most speciation events occur as a consequence of geographic barriers to gene flow (1, 2). However, in recent years a growing body of theoretical studies has established that sympatric speciation is possible and may be more common than thought previously (3-8). Nevertheless, there still exists a dearth of empirical systems in which sympatric speciation seems a likely explanatory mechanism (reviewed in ref. 8). The most convincing examples of sympatric speciation involve host-race formation by species such as Rhagoletis flies (9, 10) or pea aphids (8, 11) and ecological speciation in closed environments by taxa such as sticklebacks (12) or cichlids (13). Speciation in these types of systems probably involves the simultaneous evolution of assortative mating and phenotypic divergence through disruptive selection. Recent theoretical models show that such complex scenarios are plausible under biologically realistic conditions (5, 6, 14-16).The simplest situation favoring sympatric divergence occurs when both assortative mating and disruptive selection operate on the same phenotypic character (3,(17)(18)(19). Thus, if assortative mating appears in a population, even for reasons entirely unrelated to the speciation process, a lineage may in principle become predisposed to speciate whenever appropriate selective conditions arise. This model seems particularly feasible when mate choice involves ecologically important traits, which are likely to be the targets of selection, such as body size or habitat preference (3). This simplest scenario of sympatric speciation has not been empirically documented yet. Here we investigate the possibility that such a situation may have been important in the diversification of seahorses.This line of research was inspired by empirical field observations suggesting that seahorses mate assortatively by body size (20). Such ma...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sympatric speciation as a consequence of male pregnancy in seahorses

Jones

Moore

Kvarnemo

et al. 2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Procellariiformes breed colonially (Warham 1990) and experience strong competition for nests at some localities (Rowan 1965, Warham 1990, Ramos et al 1997). Insufficient nest availability may affect social mate choice in the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea (Barbraud and Jouventin 1998, Jouventin and Bried 2001). Despite this, snow petrels seldom divorce, most probably because divorces in this species are very costly in terms of missed breeding years before re‐mating, especially for the individuals that change nest (Jouventin and Bried 2001).…”

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Does competition for nests affect genetic monogamy in Cory's shearwaterCalonectris diomedea?

Bried¹,

Dubois²,

Jarne³

et al. 2010

Journal of Avian Biology

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Most bird species are socially monogamous. However, extra‐pair copulations (EPCs), resulting in extra‐pair paternity (EPP), commonly occur. EPCs should allow females to adjust social mate choice and allow males that fail to obtain a nest a chance to avoid missing a breeding season, especially when poor nest supply constrains social mate choice. Procellariiformes (albatrosses and petrels) are socially monogamous seabirds which seldom divorce, even when nest availability constrains social mate choice. In Cory's shearwater Calonectris diomedea, a burrow‐nesting petrel, two studies conducted in the Mediterranean, where competition for nests is weak, detected no EPP. EPP remains to be investigated at localities where competition for nests is much stronger, such as Vila islet, Azores archipelago, Atlantic Ocean. We conducted a genetic (microsatellites) study over two successive years on Vila, involving the breeding pairs of the same 65 nests each year and their single chick. EPPs occurred each year, the overall rate being 11.6%. Coupling genetic analyses to a 7‐year demographic survey provided additional data on pair bonds and competition for nests. Overall, cuckoldry was unrelated to divorce, nest density and inbreeding avoidance, but was more frequent when the social male was small. Nest changes were more costly for males than for females, and some apparently unpaired males attempted to dislodge social males during within‐pair copulations. These results are compatible with the existence of a link between poor nest availability and EPP and confirm that even species considered strongly monogamous can adopt flexible mating strategies.

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“…Hence, colony size could mediate nest‐site fidelity via breeding success. Other factors such as sex, breeding density, habitat or nest characteristics have also been found to be related to nest‐site fidelity (Switzer 1993, Dubois et al . 1998, Jouventin & Bried 2001, Pyle et al .…”

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Nest‐site fidelity and breeding success in White StorkCiconia ciconia

Vergara

Aguirre

Fargallo

et al. 2006

Ibis

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Nest‐site fidelity is a life‐history trait of birds that may produce benefits in terms of fitness. We studied the relationship between breeding success and nest fidelity in the White Stork Ciconia ciconia. We also studied how other factors such as age, sex, habitat, colony size and productivity in previous breeding attempts might interfere with this relationship. Our results showed that pairs with higher fidelity rates also have lower failure rates, and that breeding failure and productivity in the previous season influenced the frequency of nest change in the following season. In addition, a curvilinear relationship was found between age and nest fidelity. These results suggest that age is a major factor related to nest fidelity and therefore individual experience could explain this behaviour in the White Stork. Changing the nest involves a reproductive cost for which nest fidelity can be considered as an adaptive strategy to increase fitness.

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The effect of mate choice on speciation in snow petrels

Cited by 31 publications

References 43 publications

Sympatric speciation as a consequence of male pregnancy in seahorses

Sympatric speciation as a consequence of male pregnancy in seahorses

Does competition for nests affect genetic monogamy in Cory's shearwaterCalonectris diomedea?

Nest‐site fidelity and breeding success in White StorkCiconia ciconia

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