Sexual selection

Last updated on Oct 4, 2021
Photo: Andrea Reiman.

I’m especially interested in understanding how sexual selection affects population mean fitness; it can bring benefits by helping to declutter the genome of mutations, yet the resulting inter- and intra-genomic conflicts that come with sexual selection can be considerable. I work on sexual selection using a combination of experiments with insects, theoretical models, quantitative genetics, and transcriptomics. I have also written about honest signalling, and during my PhD I worked mostly on the evolution of Drosophila sperm morphology.

Sexual selection
Associate Professor

Related

Publications

Polygenic signals of sex differences in selection in humans from the UK Biobank
We develop new theory for studying sex-differential selection across a complete life cycle and test our models with genotypic and reproductive success data from approximately 250,000 UK Biobank individuals. We uncover polygenic signals of sex-differential selection affecting survival, reproductive success, and overall fitness.
PDF Code Dataset Project Project
Polygenic signals of sex differences in selection in humans from the UK Biobank
Experimental sexual selection affects the evolution of physiological and life‐history traits
We measured the effects of prolonged evolution under enforced monogamy or polyandry on the evolution of respiration, activity levels, metabolism, and resistance in the fly Drosophila pseudoobscura. Polyandry flies were more active, and invested more in metabolites associated with increased endurance capacity and efficient energy metabolism and regulation, namely lipids and glycogen.
PDF Code Project
Experimental sexual selection affects the evolution of physiological and life‐history traits
Sexual selection can partly explain low frequencies of Segregation Distorter alleles
We find evidence that the mitochondrial DNA carried by Drosophila larvae affects the fitness of other cohabiting larvae – a mitochondrial ‘indirect genetic effect’. This result implies that the effects of mitochondrial DNA on the phenotype of males (specifically, male larvae) may have evolutionary consequences, in contrast to the received wisdom that mtDNA inside males is ‘invisible to selection’ due to maternal inheritance of mtDNA.
PDF Code Dataset Project Project
Sexual selection can partly explain low frequencies of Segregation Distorter alleles
Male‐biased sexual selection, but not sexual dichromatism, predicts speciation in birds
We test whether variation in sexual selection can predict speciation and extinction rates across up to 5,812 species of passerine birds. Male‐biased sexual selection, and specifically sexual size dimorphism, predicted two of the three measures of speciation rates that we examined.
PDF Code Dataset Project
Male‐biased sexual selection, but not sexual dichromatism, predicts speciation in birds
Sibling rivalry versus mother's curse: can kin competition facilitate a response to selection on male mitochondria?
We find evidence that the mitochondrial DNA carried by Drosophila larvae affects the fitness of other cohabiting larvae – a mitochondrial ‘indirect genetic effect’. This result implies that the effects of mitochondrial DNA on the phenotype of males (specifically, male larvae) may have evolutionary consequences, in contrast to the received wisdom that mtDNA inside males is ‘invisible to selection’ due to maternal inheritance of mtDNA.
PDF Code Dataset Project Project
Sibling rivalry versus mother's curse: can kin competition facilitate a response to selection on male mitochondria?
An X-linked meiotic drive allele has strong, recessive fitness costs in female Drosophila pseudoobscura
We measured the effects of a natural gene drive, Sex Ratio (SR), on fitness in Drosophila pseudoobscura. We find that SD is very costly, especially when homozygous, and that it also has transgenerational effects on offspring fitness and sex ratio. Using a model, we show that these effects may explain the frequency and clinal patterns of SR in nature.
PDF Code Project Project
An X-linked meiotic drive allele has strong, recessive fitness costs in female Drosophila pseudoobscura
Mother’s curse and indirect genetic effects: do males matter to mitochondrial genome evolution?
We argue that the effects of mitochondrial DNA on a male phenotype can respond to selection, provided that males interact with their female ‘mitochondrial relatives’, and that the male phenotype affects female fitness. We present experimental evidence that female fitness depends on the mitochondrial DNA carried by interacting males, and discuss the implications for ‘mother’s curse’.
PDF Code Project Project
Mother’s curse and indirect genetic effects: do males matter to mitochondrial genome evolution?
Fitness consequences of the selfish supergene Segregation Distorter
We measured the effects of a natural gene drive, Segregation Distorter (SD), on fitness in Drosophila melanogaster. We find that SD is very costly, especially when homozygous, and that it also has transgenerational effects on offspring fitness and sex ratio. Using a model, we show that these effects may explain the puzzling rarity of SD in nature.
PDF Code Project Project
Fitness consequences of the selfish supergene Segregation Distorter
Sexual selection improves population fitness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
We synthesised 459 effect sizes from 65 pertinent experimental evolution studies using meta-analysis, and found that sexual selection on males tends to elevate the mean and reduce the variance for many fitness traits. The beneficial effect was stronger in female traits than males, and for populations evolving under stressful conditions. The results have implications for conservation and captive breeding programs.
PDF Code Dataset Project Project Project
Sexual selection improves population fitness: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Sexual selection expedites the evolution of pesticide resistance
Using experimental evolution, we test whether allowing or preventing sexual selection on males affects the rate at which flour beetle populations evolve resistance (and susceptibility) to insecticide.
PDF Project
Sexual selection expedites the evolution of pesticide resistance
Ornament complexity is correlated with sexual selection: a comment on Raia et al
Raia et al. propose that the evolution of the shape and complexity of animal ornaments (e.g., deer antlers) can be explained by …
PDF Project
Ornament complexity is correlated with sexual selection: a comment on Raia et al
Bet hedging via multiple mating: a meta-analysis
Polyandry has been hypothesized to allow females to “bet hedge” against mating only with unsuitable mates, reducing variance in …
PDF Code Dataset Project
Bet-hedging via polyandry: A comment on 'Mating portfolios: bet-hedging, sexual selection and female multiple mating'
Garcia-Gonzalez et al. [1] conducted an original and elegant experiment examining whether fertilization of a female’s eggs by …
PDF Project
Assessing the alignment of sexual and natural selection using radio-mutagenized seed beetles
A major unsolved question in evolutionary biology concerns the relationship between natural and sexual selection. Sexual selection …
PDF Dataset Project
Female preferences for timing in a fiddler crab with synchronous courtship waving displays
Studies of sexual communication typically focus on the design and information content of a signal of interest, but the timing of signal …
PDF Dataset Project
Even more functions of sperm RNA: a response to Hosken and Hodgson
As recently outlined in TREE [1], many animals and plants are thought to load their male gametes with multiple types of RNA, some of …
PDF Project Project Project
Even more functions of sperm RNA: a response to Hosken and Hodgson
Local adaptation and the evolution of female choice
This book chapter presents a theoretical model looking at the evolution of female choice when male condition is determined by …
PDF Project
Polyandrous females found fitter populations
Multiple mating by females (polyandry) requires an evolutionary explanation, because it carries fitness costs in many species. When …
PDF Project
Polyandrous females found fitter populations
Fiddlers on the roof: elevation muddles mate choice in fiddler crabs
Biological signaling usually occurs in complex environments, yet signals are most often studied in controlled experiments that strip …
PDF Project
Fiddlers on the roof: elevation muddles mate choice in fiddler crabs
The consequences of polyandry for population viability, extinction risk and conservation
Polyandry, by elevating sexual conflict and selecting for reduced male care relative to monandry, may exacerbate the cost of sex and …
PDF Project Project
Costs and constraints conspire to produce honest signaling: insights from an ant queen pheromone
Signal costs and evolutionary constraints have both been proposed as ultimate explanations for the ubiquity of honest signaling, but …
PDF Project Project Project
Random sperm use and genetic effects on worker caste fate in Atta colombica leaf‐cutting ants
Sperm competition can produce fascinating adaptations with far‐reaching evolutionary consequences. Social taxa make particularly …
PDF Project Project Project
Terminal investment in multiple sexual signals: immune‐challenged males produce more attractive pheromones
Trade‐offs between current and future resource allocation can select for elevated reproductive effort in individuals facing mortality. …
PDF Project
Sperm viability staining in ecology and evolution: potential pitfalls
The causes and consequences of variation in sperm quality, survival and ageing are active areas of research in ecology and evolution. …
PDF Project Project
Sperm viability staining in ecology and evolution: potential pitfalls
Drosophila melanogaster seminal fluid can protect the sperm of other males
Many internally‐fertilizing animals produce seminal fluid which is transferred along with sperm during mating. Seminal fluid typically …
PDF Project Project
A sterile sperm caste protects brother fertile sperm from female-mediated death in Drosophila pseudoobscura
Spermicide (i.e., female-mediated sperm death) is an understudied but potentially widespread phenomenon that has important …
PDF Project Project
What use is an infertile sperm? A comparative test of parasperm function in sperm-heteromorphic Drosophila
Sperm size and number are important determinants of male reproductive success. The genus Drosophila exhibits a remarkable diversity of …
PDF Project Project
Spermicide, cryptic female choice and the evolution of sperm form and function
Sperm competition and cryptic female choice profoundly affect sperm morphology, producing diversity within both species and …
PDF Project Project
Modulation of sexual signalling by immune challenged male mealworm beetles (Tenebrio molitor, L.): evidence for terminal investment and dishonesty
Organisms partition resources into life-history traits in order to maximise fitness over their expected lifespan. For the males of many …
PDF Project