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Researcher | Institution | Original publication | Reading recommendations | Beyond | CitationHow does sexual selection contribute to biodiversity on earth? ASTRID T. GROOT investigates this question using the example of moths. As she explains in this video, in many species, including moths, the most common individuals are chosen as mates and the ones that deviate away from the mean are selected against. Following this principle, you would expect less and less variation but this is not the case. Thus, her research team examines how genetic variance is maintained. They analyzed the mechanism underlying signal variation and response variation and questioned the general assumption that the average is always chosen over the extremes. After detailed behavioral analysis in the laboratory and the field they found that the signaling itself changes and that, indeed, the most common individuals are not always chosen. These findings add to a better understanding of how sexual selection and its evolution might drive diversity.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10573
Institution
Original publication
Proximity of Signallers Can Maintain Sexual Signal Variation Under Stabilizing Selection
Scientific Reports
Published in 2017
Experimental Evidence for Chemical Mate Guarding in a Moth
Scientific Reports
Published in 2016
Genetic Mapping of Male Pheromone Response in the European Corn Borer Identifies Candidate Genes Regulating Neurogenesis
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published in 2016
Reading recommendations
Genetic Basis of Allochronic Differentiation in the Fall Armyworm
BMC Evolutionary Biology
Published in 2017
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