Contributions of natural and sexual selection to the evolution of premating reproductive isolation: a research agenda.
Speciation by divergent natural selection is well supported. However, the role of sexual selection in speciation is less well understood due to disagreement about whether sexual selection is a mechanism of evolution separate from natural selection, as well as confusion about various models and tests of sexual selection. Here, we outline how sexual selection and natural selection are different mechanisms of evolutionary change, and suggest that this distinction is critical when analyzing the role of sexual selection in speciation. Furthermore, we clarify models of sexual selection with respect to their interaction with ecology and natural selection. In doing so, we outline a research agenda for testing hypotheses about the relative significance of divergent sexual and natural selection in the evolution of reproductive isolation.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Electronic address: Rebecca.Safran@colorado.edu.
Rebecca J
RJ
Safran
Elizabeth S C
ES
Scordato
Laurel B
LB
Symes
Rafael L
RL
Rodríguez
Tamra C
TC
Mendelson
D000220:Adaptation, Biological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D060047:Reproductive Isolation; D012641:Selection, Genetic
ecological speciation; mate selection; natural selection; reproductive isolation; sexual selection; speciation