No evidence of male-biased sexual selection in a snake with conventional Darwinian sex roles.

ABSTRACT: Decades of research on sexual selection have demonstrated that 'conventional' Darwinian sex roles are common in species with anisogamous gametes, with those species often exhibiting male-biased sexual selection. Yet, mating system characteristics such as long-term sperm storage and polyandry have the capacity to disrupt this pattern. Here, these ideas were explored by quantifying sexual selection metrics for the western diamond-backed rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). A significant standardized sexual selection gradient was not found for males (β _SS = 0.588, p = 0.199) or females (β _SS = 0.151, p = 0.664), and opportunities for sexual selection (I_s ) and selection (I) did not differ between males (I_s = 0.069, I = 0.360) and females (I_s = 0.284, I = 0.424; both p > 0.05). Furthermore, the sexes did not differ in the maximum intensity of precopulatory sexual selection (males: s' _max = 0.155, females: s' _max = 0.080; p > 0.05). Finally, there was no evidence that male snout-vent length, a trait associated with mating advantage, is a target of sexual selection (p > 0.05). These results suggest a lack of male-biased sexual selection in this population. Mating system characteristics that could erode male-biased sexual selection, despite the presence of conventional Darwinian sex roles, are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Levine BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7657906 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature