Polyandry in dragon lizards: inbred paternal genotypes sire fewer offspring

Ecology and Evolution

Celine H. Frère¹  Dani Chandrasoma² 

[1] GeneCology Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia;Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

关键词: Cryptic female choice;    genetic benefits;    genotype reconstruction;    GERUD;    inbreeding;    polyandry;    reptile;    sexual selection;    sperm competition;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.1447

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Multiple mating in female animals is something of a paradox because it can either be risky (e.g., higher probability of disease transmission, social costs) or provide substantial fitness benefits (e.g., genetic bet hedging whereby the likelihood of reproductive failure is lowered). The genetic relatedness of parental units, particularly in lizards, has rarely been studied in the wild. Here, we examined levels of multiple paternity in Australia's largest agamid lizard, the eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesueurii), and determined whether male reproductive success is best explained by its heterozygosity coefficient or the extent to which it is related to the mother. Female polyandry was the norm: 2/22 clutches (9.2%) were sired by three or more fathers, 17/22 (77.2%) were sired by two fathers, and only 3/22 (13.6%) clutches were sired by one father. Moreover, we reconstructed the paternal genotypes for 18 known mother–offspring clutches and found no evidence that females were favoring less related males or that less related males had higher fitness. However, males with greater heterozygosity sired more offspring. While the postcopulatory mechanisms underlying this pattern are not understood, female water dragons likely represent another example of reproduction through cryptic means (sperm selection/sperm competition) in a lizard, and through which they may ameliorate the effects of male-driven precopulatory sexual selection.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.