Chemical communication, sexual selection, and introgression in wall lizards

MacGregor, Hannah E. A.; Lewandowsky, Rachel A. M.; d’Ettorre, Patrizia; Leroy, Chloé; Davies, Noel W.; While, Geoffrey M.; Uller, Tobias

doi:10.1111/evo.13317

Cited by 24 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Since reproductive isolation is weak between the Italian and Southern Alps lineages (While et al., ), this competitive advantage should result in directional spread of phenotypes and genotypes from the Italian to the Southern Alps lineage. Our results, using simulations of population demography and genomic cline analysis of more than 41,000 SNPs, show that the divergence in male competitive ability is indeed associated with asymmetric introgression, and that the morphological characters and coloration that are highly exaggerated in the Italian lineage have introgressed far beyond that expected based on neutral genetic markers (While et al., ; see also MacGregor, Lewandowsky et al., for an example of chemical composition of femoral secretions that does not introgress beyond that expected based on neutrality).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…We scored the intensity of the dorsal coloration (“greenness”) and the extent of black ventral coloration (“blackness”). Dorsal greenness and blackness are useful markers of phenotypic introgression since they are highly divergent between lineages and correlate with other sexually selected characters (MacGregor, While et al., ; MacGregor, Lewandowsky et al., ; While et al., ). More extensive cline analysis of phenotypes in both males and females can be found in While et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…() and MacGregor, Lewandowsky et al. (). The intensity of dorsal greenness is scored on a scale from one to ten, which is highly repeatable and strongly correlated with objective spectrophotometry (While et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genomic evidence for asymmetric introgression by sexual selection in the common wall lizard

et al. 2018

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Strongly selected characters can be transferred from one lineage to another with limited genetic exchange, resulting in asymmetric introgression and a mosaic genome in the receiving population. However, systems are rarely sufficiently well studied to link the pattern of introgression to its underlying process. Male common wall lizards in western Italy exhibit exaggeration of a suite of sexually selected characters that make them outcompete males from a distantly related lineage that lack these characters. This results in asymmetric hybridization and adaptive introgression of the suite of characters following secondary contact. We developed genomewide markers to infer the demographic history of gene flow between different genetic lineages, identify the spread of the sexually selected syndrome, and test the prediction that introgression should be asymmetric and heterogeneous across the genome. Our results show that secondary contact was accompanied by gene flow in both directions across most of the genome, but with approximately 3% of the genome showing highly asymmetric introgression in the predicted direction. Demographic simulations reveal that this asymmetric gene flow is more recent than the initial secondary contact, and the data suggest that the exaggerated male sexual characters originated within the Italian lineage and subsequently spread throughout this lineage before eventually reaching the contact zone. These results demonstrate that sexual selection can cause a suite of characters to spread throughout both closely and distantly related lineages with limited gene flow across the genome at large.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genomic evidence for asymmetric introgression by sexual selection in the common wall lizard

et al. 2018

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“…Here, focal and stimulus lizards were separated by a plastic barrier, which may have made chemosensory cues unperceivable. Chemical signals have indeed been purported to be an important component of the recognition system among reptiles (Bull et al, 2001;Font & Desfilis, 2002;Labra, 2011;MacGregor et al, 2017). The reliance of chemical information was demonstrated in a study involving a congeneric of L. delicata, L. coggeri (Scott et al, 2015), which indicated that individuals preferentially mated with lizards from the same population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…phenotypic cues) (McBride, 1964;Billingham et al, 2010). Visual (Head, Keogh & Doughty, 2005;Fenner & Bull, 2010;Kozak, Cirino & Ptacek, 2008;New et al, 2012), auditory (Hauber & Sherman, 2001) or olfactory (Gabirot et al, 2010;Labra, 2011;MacGregor et al, 2017) sensory modalities are used in determining whether a receiver is attracted to or repelled by a signaller.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does geographical isolation influence group recognition and social preference in an invasive lizard?

et al. 2019

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The formation of aggregations is fundamental to animal organization and has been shown to confer an evolutionary advantage. Conspecific attraction often prompts the formation of social groups yet not all individuals are equally attracted to others of their own species. The decision to aggregate with or avoid a particular individual is based upon class‐specific signals that serve to differentiate among members and non‐members. Given that signal divergence may be driven by local adaptation, disjunct populations could potentially have evolved distinct recognition systems adapted to their own ecological conditions. Several studies have shown that individuals of a species are capable of discriminating between such classes as sex, mate, kin, and familiar. Yet research exploring conspecific attraction between populations is lacking. Invasive species offer a unique opportunity to determine the consequences of geographic isolation on recognition systems and social preferences, as these genetically distinct native‐range source populations have the potential to undergo secondary contact within the invaded region. To this end, we used an invasive lizard species, the delicate skink (Lampropholis delicata), to investigate conspecific recognition and attraction among individuals from two identified source populations that vary both genetically and morphologically. Our results of the dichotomous choice tests indicate that L. delicata did not differ in the level of social attraction expressed towards individuals from either population. It is unclear whether these findings are due to an inability to discriminate between local and foreign lizards using visual cues or instead that attraction is not based upon an individual's population origin but rather some other factor such as thermoregulatory requirements. Understanding the role that conspecific attraction plays in the invasion process will enable us to better predict the impacts of biological invasions. Future studies should consider using other sensory modalities and investigate the physiological benefit of grouping.

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No evidence for differential sociosexual behavior and space use in the color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Abalos

Lanuza

Bartolomé

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Explaining the evolutionary origin and maintenance of color polymorphisms is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Such polymorphisms are commonly thought to reflect the existence of alternative behavioral or life‐history strategies under negative frequency‐dependent selection. The European common wall lizard Podarcis muralis exhibits a striking ventral color polymorphism that has been intensely studied and is often assumed to reflect alternative reproductive strategies, similar to the iconic “rock–paper–scissors” system described in the North American lizard Uta stansburiana . However, available studies so far have ignored central aspects in the behavioral ecology of this species that are crucial to assess the existence of alternative reproductive strategies. Here, we try to fill this gap by studying the social behavior, space use, and reproductive performance of lizards showing different color morphs, both in a free‐ranging population from the eastern Pyrenees and in ten experimental mesocosm enclosures. In the natural population, we found no differences between morphs in site fidelity, space use, or male–female spatial overlap. Likewise, color morph was irrelevant to sociosexual behavior, space use, and reproductive success within experimental enclosures. Our results contradict the commonly held hypothesis that P. muralis morphs reflect alternative behavioral strategies, and suggest that we should instead turn our attention to alternative functional explanations.

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Chemical communication, sexual selection, and introgression in wall lizards

Cited by 24 publications

References 77 publications

Genomic evidence for asymmetric introgression by sexual selection in the common wall lizard

Genomic evidence for asymmetric introgression by sexual selection in the common wall lizard

Does geographical isolation influence group recognition and social preference in an invasive lizard?

No evidence for differential sociosexual behavior and space use in the color morphs of the European common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis)

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