Extensive variation in sperm morphology in a frog with no sperm competition.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent comparative studies of several taxa have found that within-species variation in sperm size decreases with increasing levels of sperm competition, suggesting that male-male gamete competition selects for an optimal sperm phenotype. Previous studies of intraspecific sperm length variation have all involved internal fertilizers where some other factors-e.g., sperm storage and sperm movement along the walls of the female's reproductive tract-probably also influence and reduce sperm size variation. Thus external fertilizers, where those factors are absent, might be expected to exhibit even more variation when there is little or no sperm competition. To test that idea, we studied the sperm morphology of a North American chorus frog, the spring peeper (Pseudacris crucife

SUBMITTER: Stewart KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4735968 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature