DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Mating Behaviors in Simultaneous Hermaphrodites

两性人同时发生的性冲突和伴侣操纵：巴里R Sinervo和布鲁克L W Miller博士交配往往看起来是一个友好的相遇，然而，实际上，利益冲突往往存在于交配伴侣之间。 雄性试图阻止雌性与额外的伴侣交配，以防止精子竞争，而雌性则经常寻求额外的交配伴侣，以减少与坏父亲交配的成本。 这些“性冲突”可能导致雄性用来操纵雌性交配行为的行为（“伴侣操纵策略”）的演变。 同时雌雄同体是同时是雄性和雌性的动物。 由于它们独特的生物学特性，它们是研究性冲突的优秀系统，但相对而言尚未被研究。 本研究旨在探讨雌雄同体的香蕉蛞蝓的性冲突、精子竞争和伴侣操纵策略的演变。 这些蛞蝓在交配后表现出非常不寻常的咀嚼阴茎的交配行为，这被认为是对精子竞争的进化反应。Sinervo和米勒长期以来一直对科学外展感兴趣，这个项目在非科学观众中非常受欢迎。 此外，因为这个项目是劳动密集型的，它允许他们与一个本科生团队（主要是女性）密切合作，并指导他们的科学研究的基础知识。 本科生学习各种广泛适用的领域和分子实验室研究技术，他们可以在各种科学领域使用。

Sexual conflict and partner manipulation in simultaneous hermaphrodites:Dr. Barry R Sinervo and Brooke L W MillerMating often appears to be a friendly encounter, however, in actuality, conflicts of interest often exist between mating partners. Males seek to prevent females from mating with additional partners to prevent sperm competition, whereas females often seek additional mating partners to reduce the cost of mating with a bad sire. These "sexual conflicts" can lead to the evolution of behaviors that males use to manipulate the mating behavior of the female ("partner manipulation tactics"). Simultaneous hermaphrodites are animals that are both male and female at the same time. They are excellent systems to study sexual conflict due to their unique biology, yet are relatively unstudied. This project examines sexual conflict, sperm competition and the evolution of partner manipulation strategies in the simultaneously hermaphroditic Banana slug, Ariolimax dolicophallus. These slugs exhibit a highly unusual mating behavior of penis chewing after mating, which is explored as an evolved response to sperm competition.Sinervo and Miller have a long standing interests in science outreach, and this project has been very popular among non-science audiences. Also, because this project is labor intensive, it allows them to work closely with a team of undergraduate students (mostly women) and mentor them on the basics of scientific research. Undergraduates learn a variety of broadly applicable field and molecular laboratory research techniques that they can use in a variety of scientific fields.