Do female hyaenas choose mates based on tenure?

In their investigation into whether female mate-choice drives male dispersal, H?ner et al. argue that female spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) prefer mates whose tenure in the social group is less than the females' age, to avoid paternal incest, and suggest that male dispersal reflects this preference. However, we are not persuaded that females choose mates on the basis of tenure because H?ner et al. overlook the alternative hypothesis that dispersal status itself is important in female mate-choice, such that females prefer immigrants over natal males. Like mate-choice based on tenure, choice based on dispersal status reduces the risk of incest.     

Female mate-choice drives the evolution of male-biased dispersal in a social mammal

Dispersal has a significant impact on lifetime reproductive success, and is often more prevalent in one sex than the other. In group-living mammals, dispersal is normally male-biased and in theory this sexual bias could be a response by males to female mate preferences, competition for access to females or resources, or the result of males avoiding inbreeding. There is a lack of studies on social mammals that simultaneously assess these factors and measure the fitness consequences of male dispersal decisions. Here we show that male-biased dispersal in the spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) most probably results from an adaptive response by males to simple female mate-choice rules that have evolved to avoid inbreeding. Microsatellite profiling revealed that females preferred sires that were born into or immigrated into the female's group after the female was born. Furthermore, young females preferred short-tenured sires and older females preferred longer-tenured sires. Males responded to these female mate preferences by initiating their reproductive careers in groups containing the highest number of young females. As a consequence, 11% of males started their reproductive career in their natal group and 89% of males dispersed. Males that started reproduction in groups containing the highest number of young females had a higher long-term reproductive success than males that did not. The female mate-choice rules ensured that females effectively avoided inbreeding without the need to discriminate directly against close kin or males born in their own group, or to favour immigrant males. The extent of male dispersal as a response to such female mate preferences depends on the demographic structure of breeding groups, rather than the genetic relatedness between females and males.     

Mammalian sex ratios and variation in costs of rearing sons and daughters

In red deer, the sex ratio of calves at birth (calculated as the proportion of calves born that are male) increases with the dominance rank of the mother, whereas opposite trends exist in several populations of macaques and baboons. Here we show that the subsequent survival and reproductive success of subordinate female red deer is depressed more by rearing sons than by rearing daughters, whereas the subsequent fitness of dominant females is unaffected by the sex of their present offspring. By contrast, among subordinate female macaques, the rearing of daughters has greater costs to the mother's subsequent fitness than does the rearing of sons, although again, no difference in the costs of rearing sons and daughters is found among dominant mothers. These findings indicate that both differences in the relative fitness of sons and daughters and differences in the relative costs of rearing male and female offspring can favour variation in the sex ratio.     

Complex social behaviour derived from maternal reproductive traits

A fundamental goal of sociobiology is to explain how complex social behaviour evolves, especially in social insects, the exemplars of social living. Although still the subject of much controversy, recent theoretical explanations have focused on the evolutionary origins of worker behaviour (assistance from daughters that remain in the nest and help their mother to reproduce) through expression of maternal care behaviour towards siblings. A key prediction of this evolutionary model is that traits involved in maternal care have been co-opted through heterochronous expression of maternal genes to result in sib-care, the hallmark of highly evolved social life in insects. A coupling of maternal behaviour to reproductive status evolved in solitary insects, and was a ready substrate for the evolution of worker-containing societies. Here we show that division of foraging labour among worker honey bees (Apis mellifera) is linked to the reproductive status of facultatively sterile females. We thereby identify the evolutionary origin of a widely expressed social-insect behavioural syndrome, and provide a direct demonstration of how variation in maternal reproductive traits gives rise to complex social behaviour in non-reproductive helpers.     

Variable female preferences drive complex male displays

Complexity in male sexual displays is widely appreciated but diversity in female mate choice has received little attention. Males of many species have sexual displays composed of multiple display traits, and females are thought to use these different traits in mate choice. Models of multiple display trait evolution suggest that these traits provide females with different kinds of information in different stages of the mate choice process, or function as redundant signals to improve the accuracy of mate assessment. We suggest that complex male displays might also arise because of variation in female preferences for particular male display traits. The causes of female preference variation have received little attention, and the role of preference variation in shaping complex male displays is unclear. Here we show that in satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) female mate choice is a multistage process, where females of different ages use different male display traits in successive stages. Age- and stage-specific female preferences may contribute to explaining the widespread occurrence of multifaceted male displays.     

Forebrain peptides modulate sexually polymorphic vocal circuitry

The peptide arginine-vasopressin (mammals) and its evolutionary precursor arginine-vasotocin (non-mammals) modulate reproductive physiology and numerous related social behaviours, as do oxytocin (mammals) and its homologues mesotocin and isotocin (fish). The distributions in the brain and/or the behavioural functions of these peptides often differ between the sexes, and between species with divergent social structures. Here we present neurophysiological evidence that males with vocal characteristics typical of females share a pattern of neuropeptide function with females rather than conspecific males. The plainfin midshipman fish (Porichthys notatus) has two male morphs with different reproductive tactics and vocalizations (a key species-typical behaviour which varies in its physical attributes and contextual usage, depending on the morph's social strategy). Forebrain-evoked, rhythmic vocal-motor activity that precisely mimics natural vocalizations was modulated by arginine-vasotocin, isotocin and their antagonists delivered to the preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus, a primary site for behavioural integration in all vertebrates. Peptides had different effects in males that acoustically court females (arginine-vasotocin-sensitive) than in females and sneak-spawning males (isotocin-sensitive), showing that the neuromodulatory mechanisms that establish reproduction-related behaviour can be dissociated from gonadal sex.     

动物指(趾)长比研究进展

指长比(FLRs)是指人类或动物的指(趾)长度的比值.目前人们认为人类的食指与无名指的长度比值(2D∶4D)可以作为是否受到产前性激素的影响(PAE)一个生物学标记.近几十年来人类FLRs研究在国内外得到快速发展.已经涉及基因调控、利手现象、心脏病、乳腺癌、性格特征、不对称、运动能力和孤独症等方面.进一步研究发现在其他一些哺乳动物中FLRs也存在一定性差,例如,小鼠、狒狒、大猩猩,黑猩猩、斑马雀和蜥蜴等.本文对动物的FLRs研究进展做一综述.     

Female transfer and inbreeding avoidance in social mammals

In most social mammals, males leave their natal group to breed in other groups whereas females commonly remain in the same group throughout their lives. In a few species however, females usually transfer between groups during adolescence. The functional significance of sex differences in dispersal and their connection, if any, to the avoidance of inbreeding is disputed. Here I show that in polygynous mammals where females commonly remain to breed in their natal group, their average age at first conception typically exceeds the average period of residence of adult males in breeding groups. In contrast, where females usually transfer to breed in other groups, the average residence of breeding males or of resident male kin groups typically exceeds the average age of females at first conception. These results support the suggestion that female mammals commonly transfer to avoid inbreeding with their father or other close relatives, although female dispersal may also occur for other reasons.     

Female fur seals show active choice for males that are heterozygous and unrelated

Much debate surrounds the exact rules that influence mating behaviour, and in particular the selective forces that explain the evolution of female preferences. A key example is the lek paradox, in which female choice is expected rapidly to become ineffective owing to loss of additive genetic variability for the preferred traits. Here we exploit a remarkable system in which female fur seals exert choice by moving across a crowded breeding colony to visit largely static males. We show that females move further to maximize the balance between male high multilocus heterozygosity and low relatedness. Such a system shows that female choice can be important even in a strongly polygynous species, and at the same time may help to resolve the lek paradox because heterozygosity has low heritability and inbreeding avoidance means there is no single 'best' male for all females.     

Dominance rank of adult females and mating competition in Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in the Qinling Mountains, China

Dominance hierarchy reflects resource competition in male primates as well as females.In this study,we collected data on the social rank and mating competition of female Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys from September 2009 to June 2010 in the Qinling Mountains,Shaanxi,China.Displacement was used to determine social hierarchy of the studied wild females.A total of 1223 displacement bouts between adult females and 316 mating behaviors within one-male units(OMUs) were recorded.Competitive displacement among females was very low(0.22 displacements per observation hour).The dominant ranks of females in target OMUs were determined by displacement,from one OMU to another:JB unit:YL > DBC > YCM >XBC > BD;JZT unit:XHW > JG > DT;PK unit:QQ > TM > HF;LP unit:SK > TH > WM.Higher-ranking females performed significantly more sexual behavior than lower-ranking females in this rare monkey.High-ranking females were more likely to win mating contests within those OMUs.Based on these studies,we assessed the social relationships among adult females and clarified possible explanations for the strategies of female mating competition in the OMUs.Furthermore,the notion that reproductive success may also be related to female dominance hierarchies in this polygynous species should be considered in future research.     

Mate fidelity and intra-lineage polygyny in greater horseshoe bats

Mating strategies that lead to increased kinship within socially cooperative groups may offer inclusive fitness benefits to individuals, but can also result in higher levels of inbreeding. Here we show in a sexually segregated bat species that females avoid this conflict through two mating behaviours. First, most females revisit and breed with specific, individual males across years, so that their single offspring born in different years are full siblings. Second, relatives in the maternal line, including mothers and daughters, share breeding partners (intra-lineage polygyny) more often than expected by chance. Although these behaviours increased levels of co-ancestry among colony members, there was no concomitant rise in inbreeding. We suggest that when females engage in mate fidelity and intra-lineage polygyny, kin ties among female roost mates will be strengthened, thereby potentially contributing to social group cohesiveness. Our findings reveal the hidden complexity that can underlie polygynous breeding, and highlight a new potential route by which female mate choice could influence social evolution.     

Human-specific loss of regulatory DNA and the evolution of human-specific traits

Humans differ from other animals in many aspects of anatomy, physiology, and behaviour; however, the genotypic basis of most human-specific traits remains unknown. Recent whole-genome comparisons have made it possible to identify genes with elevated rates of amino acid change or divergent expression in humans, and non-coding sequences with accelerated base pair changes. Regulatory alterations may be particularly likely to produce phenotypic effects while preserving viability, and are known to underlie interesting evolutionary differences in other species. Here we identify molecular events particularly likely to produce significant regulatory changes in humans: complete deletion of sequences otherwise highly conserved between chimpanzees and other mammals. We confirm 510 such deletions in humans, which fall almost exclusively in non-coding regions and are enriched near genes involved in steroid hormone signalling and neural function. One deletion removes a sensory vibrissae and penile spine enhancer from the human androgen receptor (AR) gene, a molecular change correlated with anatomical loss of androgen-dependent sensory vibrissae and penile spines in the human lineage. Another deletion removes a forebrain subventricular zone enhancer near the tumour suppressor gene growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible, gamma (GADD45G), a loss correlated with expansion of specific brain regions in humans. Deletions of tissue-specific enhancers may thus accompany both loss and gain traits in the human lineage, and provide specific examples of the kinds of regulatory alterations and inactivation events long proposed to have an important role in human evolutionary divergence.     

Sexually antagonistic genetic variation for fitness in red deer

Evolutionary theory predicts the depletion of genetic variation in natural populations as a result of the effects of selection, but genetic variation is nevertheless abundant for many traits that are under directional or stabilizing selection. Evolutionary geneticists commonly try to explain this paradox with mechanisms that lead to a balance between mutation and selection. However, theoretical predictions of equilibrium genetic variance under mutation-selection balance are usually lower than the observed values, and the reason for this is unknown. The potential role of sexually antagonistic selection in maintaining genetic variation has received little attention in this debate, surprisingly given its potential ubiquity in dioecious organisms. At fitness-related loci, a given genotype may be selected in opposite directions in the two sexes. Such sexually antagonistic selection will reduce the otherwise-expected positive genetic correlation between male and female fitness. Both theory and experimental data suggest that males and females of the same species may have divergent genetic optima, but supporting data from wild populations are still scarce. Here we present evidence for sexually antagonistic fitness variation in a natural population, using data from a long-term study of red deer (Cervus elaphus). We show that male red deer with relatively high fitness fathered, on average, daughters with relatively low fitness. This was due to a negative genetic correlation between estimates of fitness in males and females. In particular, we show that selection favours males that carry low breeding values for female fitness. Our results demonstrate that sexually antagonistic selection can lead to a trade-off between the optimal genotypes for males and females; this mechanism will have profound effects on the operation of selection and the maintenance of genetic variation in natural populations.     

大学生手长与性格的关系

许多证据表明人类的手长模式是受出生前性激素水平的影响,手长(掌骨长和指长)可以作为简单、有效、推测早期胚胎性别发育和激素介入调节的一个重要生物学指标.手长与人类许多特性有关,例如,性差、性取向、性格形成、攻击行为、疾病、利手、运动能力、音乐能力和两侧不对称.本文对大学生的手长与性差、性格的关系的研究进展进行一综述.     

雄激素与鼠类的社会行为

雄激素引起的社会行为包括杀婴行为、攻击行为、交配行为和社会识别行为等 ,雄激素首先引起脑结构的性差 ,是雌雄个体社会行为发生差异的基础 .雄激素引起的杀婴行为目前还有争议 ,多数学者认为还与孕酮有关 ;雄激素引起的攻击行为还受年龄、生殖状态 (泌乳时期 )、婚配制度、父本扶养还是母本扶养等各种因素的影响 ;雄激素引起的交配行为、社会识别行为还与化学感觉系统有关 ,社会识别主要由抗利尿激素依赖雄激素而产生 .     

Intrasexual competition and sexual selection in cooperative mammals

In most animals, the sex that invests least in its offspring competes more intensely for access to the opposite sex and shows greater development of secondary sexual characters than the sex that invests most. However, in some mammals where females are the primary care-givers, females compete more frequently or intensely with each other than males. A possible explanation is that, in these species, the resources necessary for successful female reproduction are heavily concentrated and intrasexual competition for breeding opportunities is more intense among females than among males. Intrasexual competition between females is likely to be particularly intense in cooperative breeders where a single female monopolizes reproduction in each group. Here, we use data from a twelve-year study of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta), where females show high levels of reproductive skew, to show that females gain greater benefits from acquiring dominant status than males and traits that increase competitive ability exert a stronger influence on their breeding success. Females that acquire dominant status also develop a suite of morphological, physiological and behavioural characteristics that help them to control other group members. Our results show that sex differences in parental investment are not the only mechanism capable of generating sex differences in reproductive competition and emphasize the extent to which competition for breeding opportunities between females can affect the evolution of sex differences and the operation of sexual selection.     

Animal behaviour: continuous activity in cetaceans after birth

All mammals previously studied take maximal rest or sleep after birth, with the amount gradually decreasing as they grow to adulthood, and adult fruitflies and rats die if they are forcibly deprived of sleep. It has therefore been assumed that sleep is necessary for development and serves a vital function in adults. But we show here that, unlike terrestrial mammals, killer-whale and bottlenose-dolphin neonates and their mothers show little or no typical sleep behaviour for the first postpartum month, avoiding obstacles and remaining mobile for 24 hours a day. We find that neonates and their mothers gradually increase the amount of time they spend resting to normal adult levels over a period of several months, but never exceed these levels. Our findings indicate either that sleep behaviour may not have the developmental and life-sustaining functions attributed to it, or that alternative mechanisms may have evolved in cetaceans.     

不同产地南方红豆杉育种亲本叶绿素含量及荧光参数差异分析

【目的】准确选配南方红豆杉优良杂交育种亲本,高效地开展杂交育种试验。【方法】以30个不同产地南方红豆杉雌雄育种亲本为材料,测定了树高和胸径等生长性状以及叶绿素含量,并通过IMAGING-PAM荧光成像系统测定了PSⅡ叶绿素荧光参数,分析了亲本间生长性状、叶绿素含量和叶绿素荧光参数差异。【结果】南方红豆杉育种亲本树高、叶绿素含量和叶绿素荧光参数在产地间具有显著差异,而在性别间仅实际量子产量Y(Ⅱ)、调节性能量耗散的量子产量Y(NPQ)、q_P和F_v/F_m存在显著差异。从变异系数来看,亲本个体间表型性状变异超过15%。对比南方红豆杉雌雄株PSⅡ反应中心的光能利用效率发现,雌株的Y(Ⅱ)、q_P和F_v/F_m参数分别显著高出雄株的11.30%、4.28%和4.11%,雄株的Y(NPQ)较雌株则显著高出12.95%。光能分配模式方面,雌株吸收的光能41%用于光化学反应,而雄株仅37%。在欧氏距离为8处,表型聚类将南方红豆杉育种亲本划分为4个类群。其中第Ⅰ类表型性状表现一般,但PSⅡ光合效率优良; 第Ⅱ类表型性状和PSⅡ光合效率均最差; 第Ⅲ类表型性状和PSⅡ光合效率均较好; 第IV类表型性状和PSⅡ光合效率均最优。【结论】南方红豆杉雌株表型生长不如雄株,但PSⅡ反应中心光合效率高于雄株,可能与其具更大的生殖成本有关。南方红豆杉亲本类群中表型生长越优良,其PSⅡ指示光合效率的荧光参数越高,说明叶绿素荧光参数在一定程度上可以反映该亲本的生长状况,能为优良杂交育种亲本选配提供辅助参考。     

Patterns of mortality and age at first reproduction in natural populations of mammals

There is great variation in the age at which females of different mammalian species first breed. Recent comparative analyses have focused on the relationship between age at first reproduction and body size, but differences in patterns of mortality experienced by natural populations are expected to have major effects on selection for age at first reproduction. Here we show that the age at which females first reproduce is strongly correlated with expectation of life at birth, after the effects of body size have been removed, within and among species of mammals living in natural populations.     

Condition-dependent signalling of genetic variation in stalk-eyed flies

Handicap models of sexual selection predict that male sexual ornaments have strong condition-dependent expression and this allows females to evaluate male genetic quality. A number of previous experiments have demonstrated heightened condition-dependence of sexual ornaments in response to environmental stress. Here we show that genetic variation underlies the response to environmental stress (variable food quality) of a sexual ornament (male eye span) in the stalk-eyed fly Cyrtodiopsis dalmanni. Some male genotypes develop large eye span under all conditions, whereas other genotypes progressively reduce eye span as conditions deteriorate. Several non-sexual traits (female eye span, male and female wing length) also show genetic variation in condition-dependent expression, but their genetic response is entirely explained by scaling with body size. In contrast, the male sexual ornament still reveals genetic variation in the response to environmental stress after accounting for differences in body size. These results strongly support the hypothesis that female mate choice yields genetic benefits for offspring.