Phylogeny of diving beetles reveals a coevolutionary arms race between the sexes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Darwin illustrated his sexual selection theory with male and female morphology of diving beetles, but maintained a cooperative view of their interaction. Present theory suggests that instead sexual conflict should be a widespread evolutionary force driving both intersexual coevolutionary arms races and speciation.

Methodology/principal findings

We combined Bayesian phylogenetics, complete taxon sampling and a multi-gene approach to test the arms race scenario on a robust diving beetle phylogeny. As predicted, suction cups in males and modified dorsal surfaces in females showed a pronounced coevolutionary pattern. The female dorsal modifications impair the attachment ability of male suction cups, but each antagonistic novelty in females corresponds to counter-diffe

SUBMITTER: Bergsten J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1885976 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature