Causes and Consequences of Genital Evolution
Causes and Consequences of Genital Evolution
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DOI：
10.1093/icb/icw101
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发表时间：
2016-10-01
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Heinen-Kay, Justa L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Langerhans, R. Brian;Anderson, Christopher M.;Heinen-Kay, Justa L.
在过去的几十年里，生殖器多样性的研究受到了迅速发展的关注。这项研究表明，雄性内生殖器的动物表现出非常迅速和复杂的进化。近年来，一个共识已经出现，性选择是负责大部分观察到的生殖器多样性，自然选择在很大程度上发挥辅助作用。尽管我们对生殖器进化的选择的关键近似形式有了更深入的了解，但我们仍然对生殖器惊人多样性的更广泛的最终原因和后果缺乏了解。在这里，我们强调了三个主题，迄今为止得到的关注相对较少，但可能被证明是至关重要的。首先，我们鼓励调查生态的直接和间接的作用，在生殖器多样化，生态变化可以影响生殖器的选择在几个方面，也许特别是通过影响性选择的背景。其次，我们需要更多的研究生殖器分化对物种形成的影响，因为生殖器差异可以通过锁和钥匙的过程（选择直接有利于生殖隔离）或作为偶然的副产品的分歧来加强生殖隔离。第三，我们赞同最近关于增加对女性生殖器研究的呼吁，因为女性生殖器存在着重要的多样性，多种机制可以导致女性生殖器的快速多样化。对于这三个主题，我们回顾了理论和经验数据，并描述了解决这些问题的具体研究方法。我们希望这项工作提供了一个路线图，以增加对主要性特征显著多样性的原因和后果的理解，从而对复杂特征的进化和物种形成的表型原因有新的见解。
The study of genital diversity has experienced rapidly burgeoning attention over the past few decades. This research has shown that male genitalia in internally fertilizing animals exhibit remarkably rapid and complex evolution. In recent years, a consensus has emerged that sexual selection is responsible for much of the observed genital diversity, with natural selection largely playing a subsidiary role. Despite enhanced understanding of the key proximate forms of selection responsible for genital evolution, we still have a poor grasp of the broader, ultimate causes and consequences of the striking diversity of genitalia. Here, we highlight three topics that have so far received comparatively little attention and yet could prove critically important. First, we encourage investigation of ecology's direct and indirect roles in genital diversification, as ecological variation can influence selection on genitalia in several ways, perhaps especially by influencing the context of sexual selection. Second, we need more research into the effects of genital divergence on speciation, as genital differences could enhance reproductive isolation through either a lock-and-key process (where selection directly favors reproductive isolation) or as an incidental by-product of divergence. Third, we echo recent calls for increased research on female genitalia, as non-trivial female genital diversity exists, and multiple mechanisms can lead to rapid diversification of female genitalia. For all three topics, we review theory and empirical data, and describe specific research approaches for tackling these questions. We hope this work provides a roadmap toward increased understanding of the causes and consequences of the conspicuous diversity of primary sexual traits, and thus toward new insights into the evolution of complex traits and the phenotypic causes of speciation.