Are assortative mating and genital divergence driven by reinforcement?

ABSTRACT: The evolution of assortative mating is a key part of the speciation process. Stronger assortment, or greater divergence in mating traits, between species pairs with overlapping ranges is commonly observed, but possible causes of this pattern of reproductive character displacement are difficult to distinguish. We use a multidisciplinary approach to provide a rare example where it is possible to distinguish among hypotheses concerning the evolution of reproductive character displacement. We build on an earlier comparative analysis that illustrated a strong pattern of greater divergence in penis form between pairs of sister species with overlapping ranges than between allopatric sister-species pairs, in a large clade of marine gastropods (Littorinidae). We investigate both assortative mating

SUBMITTER: Hollander J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6292706 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature