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Divergent sexual selection enhances reproductive isolation in sticklebacks

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  • Janette Wenrick Boughman

    (University of British Columbia)

Abstract

Sexual selection may facilitate speciation because it can cause rapid evolutionary diversification of male mating signals and female preferences. Divergence in these traits can then contribute to reproductive isolation1,2,3. The sensory drive hypothesis predicts that three mechanisms underlie divergence in sexually selected traits4: (1) habitat-specific transmission of male signals5,6,7; (2) adaptation of female perceptual sensitivity to local ecological conditions8; and (3) matching of male signals to female perceptual sensitivity4,9. I test these mechanisms in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus spp.) that live in different light environments. Here I show that female perceptual sensitivity to red light varies with the extent of redshift in the light environment, and contributes to divergent preferences. Male nuptial colour varies with environment and is tuned to female perceptual sensitivity. The extent of divergence among populations in both male signal colour and female preference for red is correlated with the extent of reproductive isolation in these recently diverged species. These results demonstrate that divergent sexual selection generated by sensory drive contributes to speciation.

Suggested Citation

  • Janette Wenrick Boughman, 2001. "Divergent sexual selection enhances reproductive isolation in sticklebacks," Nature, Nature, vol. 411(6840), pages 944-948, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:411:y:2001:i:6840:d:10.1038_35082064
    DOI: 10.1038/35082064
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    Cited by:

    1. Robin M. Tinghitella & Whitley R. Lehto & Ross Minter, 2015. "The evolutionary loss of a badge of status alters male competition in three-spine stickleback," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 26(2), pages 609-616.
    2. Demetra Andreou & Christophe Eizaguirre & Thomas Boehm & Manfred Milinski, 2017. "Mate choice in sticklebacks reveals that immunogenes can drive ecological speciation," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 28(4), pages 953-961.
    3. Joachim G Frommen & Timo Thünken & Francesca Santostefano & Valentina Balzarini & Attila Hettyey, 2022. "Effects of chronic and acute predation risk on sexual ornamentation and mating preferences [Effects of perceived predation risk and social environment on the development of three-spined stickleback," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 33(1), pages 7-16.
    4. Gina M Calabrese & Karin S Pfennig, 2021. "Female mate preferences do not predict male sexual signals across populations [Hybridization and speciation]," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 32(6), pages 1183-1191.

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