Are old males still good males and can females tell the difference?

Johnson, Sheri L.; Gemmell, Neil J.

doi:10.1002/bies.201100157

Cited by 78 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…If mating with old males is costly for females because of lower sperm quality due to an accumulation of deleterious mutations, then females may reduce the risk that their eggs will be fertilized with old sperm via remating (Johnson and Gemmell 2012). Indeed in wild A. ludens sperm viability tends to decrease with age (Herrera-Cruz M. unpublished data).…”

Section: Female Remating Behaviormentioning

confidence: 94%

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Female Age Determines Remating Behavior in Wild Mexican Fruit Flies

2016

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Male and female age are important factors that can influence mating and remating behavior. Females can discriminate against or prefer older males, but there have been relatively fewer studies on how female and male age influence female remating. Here we showed in wild flies of the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens (Loew), that when females were given a choice between males of different ages, younger females preferred to mate with younger males over older males, while older females were less selective. Also, when given a choice between males of different ages, older females had longer copulation durations than younger females. On the other hand, older males and females had lower mating success, compared with young and middleaged flies under no choice conditions. However, middle-aged females mated faster compared to young females and young males mated faster compared to middle-aged males. Male age did not influence female remating, while female age strongly determined female remating, with no females remating when they were old. It is unclear if female receptivity mechanisms are switched off at older ages, or if females are reluctant to remate due to possible costs of mating. We discuss our results in terms of how male and female age can influence mating decisions.

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Section: Female Remating Behaviormentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Female discrimination against old males may occur because of a variety of factors, among which are an increase in sperm mutation and lower fertility (Johnson and Gemmell 2012). The mechanism by which females distinguish between young or old males is not known in Tephritidae.…”

Section: Female Mating Preferences Under Choice or No Choice Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female Age Determines Remating Behavior in Wild Mexican Fruit Flies

2016

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“…Old mating partners, on the other hand, are less likely to be virgin, and thus perhaps more likely to be gamete-depleted or to carry sexually transmitted diseases. Moreover, mutations may accumulate with age in germ cells, reducing the viability, size, or other fitness-related traits of offspring (Johnson and Gemmell 2012). For example, in humans, advanced maternal age reduces offspring viability and survival and greatly increases risk of Down syndrome (reviewed in Gaulden 1992;Bewley et al 2005), whereas advanced paternal age increases incidence of childhood cancers and neuropsychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and, fascinatingly, is associated with reduced cognitive abilities (reviewed in Cannon 2009).…”

Section: Aging Can Generate Sexual Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because surviving to old age might indicate high genetic quality, although somatic condition invariably declines in old age, there is considerable debate about whether females stand to lose or gain, on the whole, by mating with old males (reviewed in Johnson and Gemmell 2012). However, if old males represent suboptimal mating partners, females are expected to evolve preferences that reduce the likelihood of mating with them.…”

Section: Aging Can Generate Sexual Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Conflict, Life Span, and Aging

Adler

Bonduriansky

2014

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology

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The potential for sexual conflict to influence the evolution of life span and aging has been recognized for more than a decade, and recent work also suggests that variation in life span and aging can influence sexually antagonistic coevolution. However, empirical exploration of these ideas is only beginning. Here, we provide an overview of the ideas and evidence linking inter-and intralocus sexual conflicts with life span and aging. We aim to clarify the conceptual basis of this research program, examine the current state of knowledge, and suggest key questions for further investigation.S exual conflict arises because the sexes maximize their fitness via different, and often mutually incompatible, strategies, and its signature has been detected across a wide range of morphological, physiological, behavioral, and life-history traits in many species. A number of investigators have suggested that sexual conflict could play an important role in the evolution of two particularly interesting life-history traits: life span and aging (Svensson and Sheldon 1998;Promislow 2003;Bonduriansky et al. 2008;Maklakov and Lummaa 2013). Sexual conflict can affect life span and aging rate at both proximate (within-generation) and ultimate (evolutionary) scales. Sexually antagonistic behavioral or physiological interactions that increase mortality rate in one or both sexes (interlocus sexual conflict) could drive the evolution of faster life histories. Moreover, sex-specific optimization of reproductive strategies may often result in sex differences in life span and aging rates, and sexually antagonistic selection on shared genetic architecture can displace one or both sexes from their sex-specific optima for these traits (intralocus sexual conflict). Conversely, a change in life histories because of environmental fluctuations could affect the degree of sexual conflict in a population and influence sexual coevolution. Although evidence for sexual conflict is rapidly accumulating, our understanding of its relationship to life span and aging remains rudimentary. In this review, we provide a critical review of recent literature and highlight areas that require further investigation.

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“…Old males get more matings than young males (McElligott et al 2002) and, as a result, are more likely to be subject to daily or seasonal sperm depletion (Preston et al 2001). They could also accumulate more deleterious mutations in the germ line and have lower fertilization success (Johnson and Gemmell 2012). An assessment of the quantity and quality of sperm produced by fallow bucks at different ages would be required to fully understand why the females mating with relatively younger males were not polyandrous.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fallow deer polyandry is related to fertilization insurance

Briefer

Farrell

Hayden

et al. 2013

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Polyandry is widespread, but its adaptive significance is not fully understood. The hypotheses used to explain its persistence have rarely been tested in the wild and particularly for large, long-lived mammals. We investigated polyandry in fallow deer, using female mating and reproduction data gathered over 10 years. Females of this species produce a single offspring (monotocous) and can live to 23 years old. Overall, polyandry was evident in 12 % of females and the long-term, consistent proportion of polyandrous females observed, suggests that monandry and polyandry represent alternative mating strategies. Females were more likely to be polyandrous when their first mate had previously achieved high numbers of matings during the rut or was relatively old. However, polyandry was not related to the following factors: female age, the stage of the rut, the dominance ranks of mates, or the number of daily matings achieved by males. Polyandrous and monandrous multiplemating females were not more likely than single-mating females to be observed with an offspring during the following year, and there were no significant differences in offspring size between these females. These results provide support for a fertility insurance hypothesis, with females remating if fertilization from the first mating was uncertain due to possible sperm depletion. The potential for different female mating strategies among large, polygynous mammals has generally been overlooked. Our findings highlight the complexity of female reproductive strategies and the possible trade-offs between fertilization success, preferences for high-quality males, and potential costs of polyandry, particularly for monotocous species.

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Are old males still good males and can females tell the difference?

Cited by 78 publications

References 104 publications

Female Age Determines Remating Behavior in Wild Mexican Fruit Flies

Female Age Determines Remating Behavior in Wild Mexican Fruit Flies

Sexual Conflict, Life Span, and Aging

Fallow deer polyandry is related to fertilization insurance

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