title: Role of sexual selection in speciation in Drosophila.
abstract: The power of sexual selection to drive changes in the mate recognition system through divergence in sexually selected traits gives it the potential to be a potent force in speciation. To know how sexual selection can bring such type of divergence in the genus Drosophila, comparative studies based on intra- and inter-sexual selection are documented in this review. The studies provide evidence that both mate choice and male-male competition can cause selection of trait and preference which thereby leads to divergence among species. In the case of intrasexual selection, various kinds of signals play significant role in affecting the species mate recognition system and hence causing divergence between the species. However, intrasexual selection can bring the intraspecific divergence at the level of pre- and post-copulatory stage. This has been better explained through Hawaiian Drosophila which has been suggested a wonderful model system in explaining the events of speciation via sexual selection. This is due to their elaborate mating displays and some kind of ethological isolation persisting among them. Similarly, the genetic basis of sexually selected variations can provide yet another path in understanding the speciation genetics via sexual selection more closely.
authors.affiliation: Genetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India, singh31bhu@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Akanksha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Bashisth N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D010641:Phenotype