Part 2

SEXUAL
SELECTION
Dr Anna Bastian
Senior Lecturer | Sensory Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of KwaZulu-Natal
School of Life Sciences | Durban, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)31 260 7719 | Room 04-14
Email: BastianA@ukzn.ac.za
Example
Guppies eat orange-coloured food.
Guppies prefer orange colours over other colours.
Orange spots stem from their food source
(crustaceans)
Size of orange spot are correlated to amount of
crustaceans consumed.
Orange spots are an honest signal for general health
(e.g. low parasite loads) -> good genes

Carotenoids are also responsible for the orange

coloration in East African vultures.
Carotenoids from consuming ungulate feaces.
Feaces are often infested with parasites.
If that mate is orange, it is possible infected
with parasites.
Orange coloured vultures have a high mating
success.
h y?
W
It signals the ability to fight of infections.
Signal a well-functioning immune system.
 Example
Guppies eat orange-coloured food.
Guppies prefer orange colours over other colours.
Orange spots stem from their food source
(crustaceans)
Size of orange spot are correlated to amount of
crustaceans consumed.
Orange spots are an honest signal for general health
(e.g. low parasite loads) -> good genes

Genes for foraging ability and orange spots will be selected for as a complex.
Females select orange dotted males because of a sensory bias for orange and because
it indicates fit males.
Female preference for orange spots will co-evolve (female choosiness and male
ornament are both inherited).

Sexual selection will act on orange spots – regardless if is remains an honest signal (hitch-
hiked signal).
■ Indicator mechanism and Fisherian runaway selection
How can sexual selection contribute to speciation?
Understanding the Good genes principle, the
Sexy sons hypothesis, the handicap principle,
and Fishers runaway hypothesis
Female preference for orange spots will co-evolve (female choosiness and male
ornament are both inherited).

Sexual selection will act on orange spots/longer tails – regardless if is remains an honest
signal (hitch-hiked signal).
If the combined forces of natural and sexual selection favour longer tails, then longer
tails and stronger preferences for longer tails will evolve.
The stronger preferences in turn will favour even greater exaggeration of the tails,
causing both the long tails and preferences for them to experience an explosive
evolutionary runaway.

When females chose a male with such exaggerated traits,

their sons will inherit that exaggerated trait which will increase
their son’s chances to be chosen as a mate (because the
females prefer exaggerated traits).
Runaway mechanism: Exaggerated traits under sexual selection
 Sexual selection – a special case of natural selection
Staying alive and reproduce

■ Selection pressure: Limited resources ■ Selection pressure: Mating;

-> Natural selection Competition for mates -> Sexual
selection

■ Selection may favour individuals with certain ■ Sexual selection: Some individuals have a
trait variants in response to different selection greater reproductive success than others.
pressures.

Sexual selection is part of natural selection.

Why is there sexual reproduction?

How come females are the choosy sex?

The evolution of sex
Why is there sexual reproduction?

Benefits of sexual reproduction:

■ Recombination: genetic diversity through recombined genomes.

1. Increased rate of evolution: faster accumulation of advantageous
mutation and faster rate of reduction of disadvantageous mutations.
2. Repair and Mutations (genetic). Very effective in organisms with
double-stranded DNA. Even more effective in diploid organisms (e.g.
recombinational repair).

-> higher reproductive success (fit offspring) at individual level

& lower risk of extinction at population level.
The evolution of sex
Why is there sexual reproduction?

The cost of sex:

 Genome dilution! 50% numerical loss in reproductive success.
 Time spend for reproduction.
Yeast can reproduce sexually or asexually. Meiosis, syngamy and karyogamy takes 8 h
for sexual reproduction and 1 h for asexual reproduction.

 Time spend for finding mates.

 Increased predation risk.

 Disease spread (Note: compare with 1. on previous slide).

The evolution of sex
Not only one way of sex determination
 The evolution of sex and sexual selection
Why is there sexual reproduction?

The answer to this question remains difficult to answer.

We can study consequences of sexual and asexual reproduction and the forces which
maintain sexual reproduction.

Why is there diversity? How does diversity come about?

Natural selection: staying alive and reproduce -> adaptations -> diversification.

Sexual selection and differential mating

(reproductive) success also lead to diversification.

Sexual selection begins with anisogamy…

 Anisogamy
Gametes in a population differ.
Usually there are two types.
-> Mating types evolve.

■ 1. Avoid dysfunctional cytoplasmatic clashes (no biparental inheritance:

organelles are often inherited from one side only).
■ 2. Increased specialization: either for mobility or nutrition.

Disruptive selection on size and function (different strategies).

Isogamy
Anisogamy
Gametes in a population differ.
Usually there are two types.
-> Mating types evolve.

■ 1. Avoid dysfunctional cytoplasmatic clashes (no biparental inheritance:

organelles are often inherited from one side only).
■ 2. Increased specialization: either for mobility or nutrition.

■ 3. Disruptive selection on size (different strategies).

Isogamy Anisogamy
 Anisogamy
Gametes in a population differ.
Usually there are two types.
-> Mating types evolve.

■ 1. Avoid dysfunctional cytoplasmatic clashes (no biparental inheritance:

organelles are often inherited from one side only).
■ 2. Increased specialization: either for mobility or nutrition.

■ 3. Disruptive selection on size (different strategies).

The different types (e.g. males and females) subsequently evolved

secondary sexual traits do enable mutual recognition.

Why do males and females look differently?

…behave…,
…smell…,
…sound…
 Anisogamy
Gametes in a population differ.
Usually there are two types.
■ Avoid dysfunctional cytoplasmatic clashes
■ Increased specialization: either for mobility or nutrition. -
> Disruptive selection on size (different strategies).

Sexual dimorphism
The different types (e.g. males and females) subsequently
evolved secondary sexual traits do enable mutual recognition.

Sexual selection
Sexual selection
■ Mechanisms: Competition and mate choice

■ Mates can be seen as a resource.

Usually one sex is a limited resource. Why?
■ Reproductive potential is key and/or investment into offspring
Eggs are costly to produce and are limited.
Spermatozoa are smaller, less material, constantly produced.
Sexual selection begins with anisogamy…

■ Females are often (not always!) the choosing sex and males the
competing sex.
Limits to reproductive success are fundamentally different:
♀: number of eggs produced, ♂: number of matings.
Sexual selection, competition,
mating systems and parental care
■ Control over mates or a territory, or a lek, or food, …
 Competition drives sexual selection,
mating systems and parental care
■ A mating system describes how male and female interactions are
built around choosing mates.
The fundamental difference between the sexes means that males and females approach
mating with differing and sometimes conflicting interests.
For example:
Monogamy is not
best for a male
Females often
need help in
raising offspring,
so monogamy is
good for her

monogamy (a male and a female), polygyny (one male, many females), and polyandry (one female,
many males)
 Competition drives sexual selection,
mating systems and parental care
■ Parental care is one way that behavior affects current
reproduction and adult survival.
And again…Differential allocation of resources into gamete production and parental care:
Sperm is cheap, eggs expensive

Mating systems can lead to patterns of parental care:

monogamy / biparental care
polygyny / maternal care
promiscuity/polygyny / no parental care or male care

Why these differences?

Mode of fertilization:
Internal fertilization – primarily female care e.g., birds, mammals
External fertilization – primarily biparental or male care e.g., fish

Certainty of Paternity Hypothesis Reliability of paternity assumed to be greater when eggs

are fertilized externally (e.g., fish) rather than internally (e.g., mammals, birds)
Mate choice and competition
Sexual dimorphism is driven by mate choice of the choosing sex and
competition with rivals competing for the attention of the choosing sex.
 Choice criteria
■ Direct benefits Access to resources Nuptial gifts
 Choice criteria
■ Direct benefits Access to resources Nuptial gifts

■ Indirect benefits
- Good genes e.g. honest signals of strength, health
come with an extra expense (handicap)

- Fisherian runaway
- Sexy sons
 Examples for preferences
■ Indicator mechanism: The T-shirt experiment

Women had to smell t-shirts worn by different men and decide which one they prefer.
The men had either similar or different immune systems.
On average women chose males with different immune systems.
Info: Heterozygous MHC loci are advantageous in combating infections.
Antigens found on membranes of almost all vertebrate cells are Major Histocompatibility Antigens.
 Examples for preferences
■ Indicator mechanism: The T-shirt experiment Good-genes principle

Women had to smell t-shirts worn by different men and decide which one they prefer.
The men had either similar or different immune systems.
On average women chose males with different immune systems.
Smell indicated “attractiveness” and is correlated to different MHC alleles.
Immune system and nervous system are integrated.
Components in the scent detected by neurons of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) located in the nasal
septum relay chemical information to the regions of the hypothalamus associated with reproductive
behavior.
 BIOL304: Evolution and Systematics

Read:

Futuyma & Kirkpatrick: “Evolution”. 4th Edition. Chapter 10.

Dr Anna Bastian
Senior Lecturer | Sensory Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of KwaZulu-Natal
School of Life Sciences | Durban, South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)31 260 7719 | Room 04-14
Email: BastianA@ukzn.ac.za