10.5061/DRYAD.3P2J0
Henshaw, Jonathan M.
Australian National University
Kahn, Andrew T.
Australian National University
Fritzsche, Karoline
University of Graz
Data from: A rigorous comparison of sexual selection indexes via
simulations of diverse mating systems
Dryad
dataset
2016
index of resource monopolization
Opportunity for sexual selection
Morisita index
Bateman gradient
distributional selection differential
Jones index
2016-12-23T00:00:00Z
2016-12-23T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518067113
1021558 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Sexual selection is a cornerstone of evolutionary theory, but measuring it
has proved surprisingly difficult and controversial. Various proxy
measures—e.g., the Bateman gradient and the opportunity for sexual
selection—are widely used in empirical studies. However, we do not know
how reliably these measures predict the strength of sexual selection
across natural systems, and most perform poorly in theoretical worst-case
scenarios. Here we provide a rigorous comparison of eight commonly used
indexes of sexual selection. We simulated 500 biologically plausible
mating systems, based on the templates of five well-studied species that
cover a diverse range of reproductive life histories. We compared putative
indexes to the actual strength of premating sexual selection, measured as
the strength of selection on a simulated “mating trait.” This method
sidesteps a key weakness of empirical studies, which lack an appropriate
yardstick against which proxy measures can be assessed. Our model predicts
that, far from being useless, the best proxy measures reliably track the
strength of sexual selection across biologically realistic scenarios. The
maximum intensity of precopulatory sexual selection s′max (the Jones
index) outperformed all other indexes and was highly correlated with the
strength of sexual selection. In contrast, the Bateman gradient and the
opportunity for sexual selection were poor predictors of sexual selection,
despite their continuing popularity.
Simulation results: indices of sexual selection and selection
differentials on the mating traitPlease see 'Read me' on first
sheet of spreadsheetData from Henshaw et al (2016) PNAS.xlsx