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Behavioral estimates of mating success corroborate genetic evidence for pre-copulatory sexual selection in male Anolis sagrei lizards

View ORCID ProfileRachana S. Bhave, Heidi A. Seears, View ORCID ProfileAaron M. Reedy, View ORCID ProfileTyler N. Wittman, View ORCID ProfileChristopher D. Robinson, View ORCID ProfileRobert M. Cox
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.04.527135
Rachana S. Bhave
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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  • For correspondence: rachanabhave@gmail.com rsb7bz@virginia.edu
Heidi A. Seears
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Aaron M. Reedy
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
2DataClassroom Inc, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Tyler N. Wittman
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Christopher D. Robinson
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Robert M. Cox
1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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Abstract

In promiscuous species, fitness estimates obtained from genetic parentage may often reflect both pre- and post-copulatory components of sexual selection. Directly observing copulations can help isolate the role of pre-copulatory selection, but such behavioral data are difficult to obtain in the wild and may also overlook post-copulatory factors that alter the relationship between mating success and reproductive success. To overcome these limitations, we combined genetic parentage analysis with behavioral estimates of size-specific mating in a wild population of brown anole lizards (Anolis sagrei). Males of this species are twice as large as females and multiple mating among females is common, suggesting the scope for both pre- and post-copulatory processes to shape sexual selection on male body size. Our genetic estimates of reproductive success revealed strong positive directional selection for male size, which was also strongly associated with the number of mates inferred from parentage. In contrast, a male’s size was not associated with the fecundity of his mates or his competitive fertilization success. By simultaneously tracking copulations in the wild via the transfer of colored powder to females by males from different size quartiles, we independently confirmed that large males were more likely than small males to mate. We conclude that body size is primarily under pre-copulatory sexual selection in brown anoles, and that post-copulatory processes do not substantially alter this pre-copulatory selection. Our study also illustrates the utility of combining both behavioral and genetic methods to estimate mating success to disentangle pre- and post-copulatory processes in promiscuous species.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c866t1gbb

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted February 04, 2023.
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Behavioral estimates of mating success corroborate genetic evidence for pre-copulatory sexual selection in male Anolis sagrei lizards
Rachana S. Bhave, Heidi A. Seears, Aaron M. Reedy, Tyler N. Wittman, Christopher D. Robinson, Robert M. Cox
bioRxiv 2023.02.04.527135; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.04.527135
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Behavioral estimates of mating success corroborate genetic evidence for pre-copulatory sexual selection in male Anolis sagrei lizards
Rachana S. Bhave, Heidi A. Seears, Aaron M. Reedy, Tyler N. Wittman, Christopher D. Robinson, Robert M. Cox
bioRxiv 2023.02.04.527135; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.04.527135

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