ScienceDaily (Oct. 25, 2012) — A new
collaborative project among researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden and
the University of Cincinnati has, for the first time, demonstrated experimentally
the evolutionary force behind the rapid evolution of male genitals, focusing on
a species of seed beetle.
This mechanism is revealed in a study
published October 25 in the scientific journal Current Biology. The
experiments leading to this paper involved a species of seed beetle known
as Callosobruchus maculatus.
Mating among these beetles involves several males engaging in copulation with
individual females.
"When a female mates with several
males, the males compete over the fertilization of her eggs," said Michal
Polak, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of
Cincinnati, one of the co-authors. "Because females mate with multiple
males, the function of the male copulatory organ may determine which of the
males will fertilize most of her eggs. Our results show that the morphology of
the male genitalia affects his fertilization success in these beetles."
The competition to produce offspring is
the driving force of evolution. Competition among males occurring after
insemination may be an important evolutionary force that has led to the
evolution of a diversity of shapes and sizes of male sexual organs, the
co-authors assert. This competition among males has generated a great
biological diversity that they believe can directly contribute to the formation
of new species.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!