The evolution of asymmetric genitalia in Coleoptera.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of asymmetry in male genitalia is a pervasive and recurrent phenomenon across almost the entire animal kingdom. Although in some taxa the asymmetry may be a response to the evolution of one-sided, male-above copulation from a more ancestral female-above condition, in other taxa, such as Mammalia and Coleoptera, this explanation appears insufficient. We carried out an informal assessment of genital asymmetry across the Coleoptera and found that male genital asymmetry is present in 43% of all beetle families, and at all within-family taxonomic levels. In the most diverse group, Cucujiformia, however, genital asymmetry is comparatively rare. We also reconstructed the phylogeny of the leiodid tribe Cholevini, and mapped aspects of genital asymmetry on the tree, revealing that end

SUBMITTER: Schilthuizen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5104500 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature