Coevolution between harmful male genitalia and female resistance in seed beetles.

ABSTRACT: Reproductive conflict between the sexes is thought to be a key force in the evolution of many reproductive characters, but persuasive evidence for its significance is still scarce. The spectacular evolution of male genitalia that impose physical injury on females during mating has often been suggested to be a product of sexually antagonistic coevolution, but our understanding of these extraordinary adaptations is very limited, and there are no direct data addressing their evolutionary elaboration. We show that more spiny male genitalia causes more harm to females during copulation and provide comparative evidence for the correlated evolution between these antagonistic adaptations in males and a female counteradaptation (the amount of connective tissue in the copulatory duct) in a group of

SUBMITTER: Ronn J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1904142 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature