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Sexual selection and the evolution of male and female cognition: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles

Julian Baur, Jean d’Amour, David Berger
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/514711
Julian Baur
1Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology program. Uppsala University
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Jean d’Amour
1Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology program. Uppsala University
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David Berger
1Department of Ecology and Genetics, Animal Ecology program. Uppsala University
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  • For correspondence: david.berger@ebc.uu.se
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Abstract

“The mating mind hypothesis”, originally aimed at explaining human cognition, holds that the socio-sexual environment shapes cognitive abilities among animals. Similarly, general sexual selection theory predicts that mate competition should benefit individuals carrying “good genes” with beneficial pleiotropic effects on general cognitive ability. However, few experimental studies have evaluated these related hypotheses due to difficulties of performing direct tests in most taxa. Here we harnessed the empirical potential of the seed beetle study system to investigate the role of sexual selection and mating system in the evolution of cognition. We evolved replicate lines of beetle under enforced monogamy (eliminating sexual selection) or polygamy for 35 generations and then challenged them to locate and discriminate among mating partners (male assays) or host seeds (female assays). To assess learning, the same beetles performed the task in three consecutive rounds. All lines learned the task, improving both within and between trails. Moreover, polygamous males outperformed monogamous males. However, there were no differences in the rate of learning between males of the two regimes, and polygamous females showed no improvement in host search, and even signs of reduced learning. Hence, while sexual selection was a potent factor that increased cognitive performance in mate search, it did not lead to the general increase in cognitive abilities expected under the “mating mind” hypothesis or general “good genes” theory. Our results highlight sexually antagonistic (balancing) selection as a potential force maintaining genetic variation in cognitive traits.

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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 January 09, 2019.
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Sexual selection and the evolution of male and female cognition: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles
Julian Baur, Jean d’Amour, David Berger
bioRxiv 514711; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/514711
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Sexual selection and the evolution of male and female cognition: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles
Julian Baur, Jean d’Amour, David Berger
bioRxiv 514711; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/514711

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