Courtship behaviour; Courtship behavior; Sexual behaviour; Sexual behavior; Sexual isolation; Reproductive isolation; Reproductive success; Isolation asymmetry; Joint isolation; Sympatric speciation; Facultative paedomorphosis; Polyphenism; Polymorphism; Heterochrony; Evolution; Mating; Lac de la cabane; Amphibian; Alpine newt; Ichthyosaura alpestris; Mesotriton alpestris; Triton alpestre; Amphibien; Pédomorphose
Abstract :
[en] Paedomorphosis, in which individuals retain ancestral characteristics in the adult stage, is widespread in newts and salamanders and is suspected to play an important role in evolution. In some species, paedomorphosis is facultative with some individuals forgoing metamorphosis. Optimality models have been proposed to explain the maintenance of this polymorphism, but require the integration of reproductive patterns into the models. We investigated the frequencies of inbreeding and outbreeding in two syntopic heterochronic morphs of the Alpine newt. The two morphs are sexually compatible: encounters between and within morphs were equally successful in terms of spermatophore transfer. Behavioural observations were in agreement with the sexual compatibility observed. Nevertheless, paedomorphic males displayed to females less frequently than metamorphic males. The two morphs differ largely on the basis of sexual secondary characteristics, but the majority of these traits did not affect mating success. Because of the large flow of genes between the two heterochronic morphs and because of the absence of spatial and temporal isolation, these results do not support sympatric speciation models, but are in favour of the maintenance of polymorphism in natural populations. (C) 2001 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Denoël, Mathieu ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Biologie du comportement - Ethologie et psychologie animale
Poncin, Pascal ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences et gestion de l'environnement > Biologie du comportement - Ethologie et psychologie animale
Ruwet, Jean-Claude; Université de Liège - ULiège
Language :
English
Title :
Sexual compatibility between two heterochronic morphs in the Alpine newt, Triturus alpestris
Publication date :
2001
Journal title :
Animal Behaviour
ISSN :
0003-3472
eISSN :
1095-8282
Publisher :
Academic Press, London, United Kingdom
Volume :
62
Issue :
3
Pages :
559-566
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
FRIA - Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l'Industrie et dans l'Agriculture [BE]
Andersson M. Sexual Selection, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press; 1994.
Arnold S.J. (1983) Sexual selection: The interface of theory and empiricism. Mate Choice , (Ed. by P. Bateson), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 67-107.
Arnold S.J., Verrell P.A., Tilley S.G. (1996) The evolution of asymmetry in sexual isolation: A model and a test case. Evolution 50:1024-1033.
Arntzen J.W., Smithson A., Oldham R.S. (1999) Marking and tissue sampling effects on body condition and survival in the newt Triturus cristatus. Journal of Herpetology 33:567-576.
Bovero S. Analisi del comportamento riproduttivo di esemplari sintopici, pedogenetici e metamorphosati, di Triturus alpestris apuanus, M.Sc. thesis, University of Turin; 1991.
Cei G. (1943) Ricerche biologiche e sperimentali sul ciclo sessuale annuo dei tritoni alpestri ("Triturus alpestris" Laur.) del Trentino e dell' Alto Adige. Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali 23:189-241.
Darwin C. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, London: John Murray; 1981 reprint, Princeton University Press; 1871.
Denoël M. (1998) The modulation of movement as a behavioral adaptation to extreme environments in the newt Triturus alpestris cyreni. Journal of Herpetology 32:623-625.
Denoël M., Joly P. (2000) Neoteny and progenesis as two heterochronic processes involved in paedomorphosis in Triturus alpestris (Amphibia Caudata). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B , doi:10.1098/rspb.2000.1168; 287:1481-1485.
Denoël M., Joly P. Adaptive significance of facultative paedomorphosis in Triturus alpestris (Amphibia, Caudata): Resource partitioning in an Alpine lake. Freshwater Biology, In press; .
Denoël M., Poncin P., Ruwet J.C. (2001) Alternative mating tactics in the Alpine newt Triturus a. alpestris. Journal of Herpetology 35:62-67.
Gabor C.R., Halliday T.R. (1997) Sequential mate choice by multiply mating smooth newts: Females become more choosy. Behavioral Ecology 8:162-166.
Gilbert D.G., Starmer W.T. (1985) Statistics of sexual isolation. Evolution 39:1380-1383.
Gould S.J. Ontogeny and Phylogeny, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press; 1977.
Green A.J. (1991) Large male crests, an honest indicator of condition, are preferred by female smooth newts, Triturus vulgaris (Salamandridae) at the spermatophore transfer. Animal Behaviour 41:367-369.
Gütleb B. (1991) Phalangenregeneration und eine neue Methode zur Individualerkennung bei Bergmolche, Triturus alpestris (Laurenti, 1768) (Caudata: Salamandridae). Herpetozoa 125.
Halliday T. (1977) The courtship of European newts: An evolutionary perspective. The Reproductive Biology of Amphibians , (Ed. by D. H. Taylor & S. I. Guttman), New York: Plenum; 185-232.
Harris R.N. (1987) Density-dependent paedomorphosis in the salamander Notophthalmus viridescens dorsalis. Ecology 68:705-712.
Hedlund L. (1990) Factors affecting differential mating success in male crested newts, Triturus cristatus. Journal of Zoology 220:33-40.
Hoikkala A. (1986) The maintenance of sexual isolation between four sympatric species of the D. virilis group. Animal Behaviour 34:158-161.
Hollocher H., Ting C., Pollack F., Wu C. (1997) Incipient speciation by sexual isolation in Drosophila melanogaster: Variation in mating preference and correlation between sexes. Evolution 51:1175-1181.
Kikuyama S., Toyoda F., Ohmiya Y., Tanaka S., Matsuda K., Hayashi H. (1995) A sex-attractant in the cloacal gland of the newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 45:160-162.
Kornfield I., Smith D.C., Gagnon P.S., Taylor J.N. (1982) The cichlid fish of Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico: Direct evidence of conspecificity among distinct trophic morphs. Evolution 36:658-664.
Krenz J.D., Sever D.M. (1995) Mating and oviposition in paedomorphic Ambystoma talpoideum precedes the arrival of terrestrial males. Herpetologica 51:387-393.
McCullagh P., Nelder J. Generalized Linear Models. 2nd edn, London: Chapman & Hall; 1989.
Maekawa K., Onozato H. (1986) Reproductive tactics and fertilization success of mature male Miyabe charr, Salvelinus malma miyabei. Environmental Biology of Fishes 15:119-129.
Michalak P., Rafinski J. (1999) Sexual isolation between two newt species, Triturus vulgaris and T. montandoni (Amphibia, Urodela, Salamandridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 67:343-352.
Michalak P., Grzesik J., Rafinski J. (1997) Tests for sexual incompatibility between two newt species, Triturus vulgaris and Triturus montandoni: No-choice mating design. Evolution 51:2045-2050.
Roff D.A., Fairbairn D.J. (1991) Wing dimorphism and the evolution of migratory polymorphisms among the insecta. American Zoologist 31:243-251.
Ryan T.J., Semlitsch R.D. (1998) Intraspecific heterochrony and life history evolution: Decoupling somatic and sexual development in a facultatively paedomorphic salamander. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 95:5643-5648.
Seehausen O., Van Alphen J.J.M., Lande R. (1999) Color polymorphism and sex ratio distortion in a cichlid fish as an incipient stage in sympatric speciation by sexual selection. Ecology Letters 2:367-378.
Seliskar A., Pehani H. (1935) Limnologische Beiträge zum Problem der Amphibienneotenie. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung fur Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie 7:263-294.
Semlitsch R.D. (1987) Paedomorphosis in Ambystoma talpoideum, Effects of density, food, and pond drying. Ecology 68:994-1002.
Semlitsch R.D., Wilbur H.M. (1989) Artificial selection for paedomorphosis in the salamander Ambystoma talpoideum. Evolution 43:105-112.
Shaffer H.B., Austin C.C., Huey R.B. (1991) The consequences of metamorphosis on salamander (Ambystoma) locomotor performance. Physiological Zoology 64:212-231.
Smith T.B. (1990) Comparative breeding biology of the two bill morphs of the black-bellied seedcracker. Auk 107:153-160.
Smith T.B., Skulason S. (1996) Evolutionary significance of resource polymorphisms in fishes, amphibians, and birds. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematic 27:111-133.
Tompkins R. (1978) Genic control of axolotl metamorphosis. American Zoologist 18:313-319.
Twitty V.C. Of Scientists and Salamanders, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman; 1966.
Verrell P.A. (1990) Frequency of interspecific mating in salamanders of the plethodontid genus Desmognathus: Different experimental designs may yield different results. Journal of Zoology 221:441-451.
Verrell P.A., Tilley S.G. (1992) Population differentiation in plethodontid salamanders: Divergence of allozymes and sexual compatibility among populations of Desmognathus imitator and D. ochrophaeus (Caudata: Plethodontidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 104:67-80.
Voss S.R. (1995) Genetic basis of paedomorphosis in the axolotl. Ambystoma mexicanum: A test of the single-gene hypothesis. Journal of Heredity 86:441-447.
Voss S.R., Shaffer H.B. (1997) Adaptive evolution via a major gene effect: Paedomorphosis in the Mexican axolotl. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 94:14185-114189.
Whiteman H.H. (1994) Evolution of facultative paedomorphosis in salamanders. Quarterly Review of Biology 69:205-221.
Whiteman H.H. (1997) Maintenance of polymorphism promoted by sex-specific fitness payoffs. Evolution 51:2039-2044.
Whiteman H.H., Wissinger S.A., Brown W.S. (1996) Growth and foraging consequences of facultative paedomorphosis in the tiger salamander. Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum. Evolutionary Ecology 10:433-446.
Whiteman H.H., Gutrich J.J., Moorman R.S. (1999) Courtship behavior in a polymorphic population of the tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum. Journal of Herpetology 33:348-351.
Ziuganov V.V., Zotin A.A. (1995) Pelvic girdle polymorphism and reproductive barriers in the ninespine stickleback Pungitius pungitius (L.) from northwest Russia. Behaviour 132:1095-1105.
