10.5061/DRYAD.G9049
Lüpold, Stefan
University of Manchester
Syracuse University
Simmons, Leigh W.
University of Western Australia
Tomkins, Joseph L.
University of Western Australia
Fitzpatrick, John L.
University of Manchester
Data from: No evidence for a trade-off between sperm length and male
premating weaponry
Dryad
dataset
2015
trade-offs
Sexual selection & conflicts
Comparative studies
Primates
Artiodactyla
Onthophagini
Phasianidae
Diopsidae
2015-08-26T17:00:50Z
2015-08-26T17:00:50Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.12742
48154 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Male ornaments and armaments that mediate success in mate acquisition and
ejaculate traits influencing competitive fertilization success are under
intense sexual selection. However, relative investment in these pre- and
postcopulatory traits depends on the relative importance of either
selection episode and on the energetic costs and fitness gains of
investing in these traits. Theoretical and empirical work has improved our
understanding of how precopulatory sexual traits and investments in sperm
production covary in this context. It has recently also been suggested
that male weapon size may trade off with sperm length as another
postcopulatory sexual trait, but the theoretical framework for this
suggestion remains unclear. We evaluated the relationship between
precopulatory armaments and sperm length, previously reported in
ungulates, in five taxa as well as meta-analytically. Within and between
taxa, we found no evidence for a negative or positive relationship between
sperm length and male traits that are important in male-male contest
competition. It is important to consider pre- and postcopulatory sexual
selection together to understand fitness, and to study investments in
different reproductive traits jointly rather than separately. A trade-off
between pre- and postcopulatory sexual traits may not manifest itself in
sperm length but rather in sperm number or function. Particularly in
large-bodied taxa such as ungulates, sperm number is more variable
interspecifically and likely to be under more intense selection than sperm
length. We discuss our and the previous results in this context.
Data of Primates, Ungluates, Pheasants, Stalk-eyed flies and Onthophagine
dung beetlesComplete data sets of all species of Primates, Ungluates,
Pheasants, Stalk-eyed flies and Onthophagine dung beetles used in this
study, including data on male and female body size, testes size, male
weapon size and/or sexual size dimorphism, as well as sperm
length.Datafiles.zipPhylogenies of the Primates, Ungluates, Pheasants,
Stalk-eyed flies and Onthophagine dung beetlesPhylogenies in NEXUS format
of all species of Primates, Ungluates, Pheasants, Stalk-eyed flies and
Onthophagine dung beetles used in this study. All phylogenies are based on
published molecular phylogenies. Since no branch lengths were available
for most phylogenies, all branch lengths are set to 1 for
consistency.Phylogenies.zipReferencesReferences accompanying the data
flies and phylogenies