Studying Genital Coevolution to Understand Intromittent Organ Morphology
Studying Genital Coevolution to Understand Intromittent Organ Morphology
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DOI：
10.1093/icb/icw018
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发表时间：
2016-10-01
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Brennan, Patricia L. R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Brennan, Patricia L. R.
男性生殖器官极其多样化，但我们对女性生殖器的多样性知之甚少。然而，雄性和雌性之间最直接的机械相互作用发生在交配期间，因此，生殖器共同进化预计将广泛存在。这意味着男性结构的多样化必然会影响女性生殖器特征的多样性，反之亦然。当我们扩大对两性之间共同进化相互作用的理解时，我们需要扩大对三个基本领域的了解：首先，我们需要关于女性生殖器形态变异的定量数据。其次，我们需要研究交配相互作用的机制，第三，我们需要利用这种理解来确定生殖器形态的哪些特征受到选择，以及它们的可变形态和功能如何影响适应性。尽管研究共同进化确实很困难，但这一知识对于我们理解男性插入器官形态的多样性至关重要。
Male intromittent organs are exceedingly diverse, yet we know comparatively little about female genital diversity. However, the most direct mechanical interaction between males and females occurs during copulation, and therefore, genital coevolution is expected to be widespread. This means that diversification of male structures must influence diversity of female genital features and vice versa. As we expand our understanding of coevolutionary interactions between the sexes, we need to expand our knowledge of three basic areas: First, we need quantitative data, on morphological variation of female genitalia. Second, we need to study the mechanics of copulatory interactions, and third, we need to use this understanding to determine which features of genital morphology are under selection, and how their variable morphology and function may affect fitness. Though studying coevolution is certainly difficult, this knowledge is crucial to our understanding of diversity in morphology of the male intromittent organ.