Rapid sperm evolution in the bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) subspecies complex

Hogner, Silje; Laskemoen, Terje; Lifjeld, Jan T.; Pavel, Václav; Chutný, Bohumír; García, Javier; Eybert, Marie‐Christine; Matsyna, Ekaterina; Johnsen, Arild

doi:10.1007/s00265-013-1548-z

Cited by 33 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 69 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Divergence in sperm morphology among closely related taxa suggests that sperm form may evolve rapidly (Pitnick et al 2003;Landry et al 2003;Hogner et al 2013), as has been shown for other ejaculatory traits (e.g. seminal fluid proteins, Swanson and Vacquier 2002).…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Fitzpatrick et al 2009;Lüpold et al 2009;Tourmente et al 2011a), though this pattern is far from universal and the nature of this relationship appears to be variable (reviewed in Simmons and Fitzpatrick 2012; and see Immler et al 2011) for a non-linear relationship in birds. Variation in sperm size has also been linked to among-species variation in body size (Pitnick et al 2009;Lüpold et al 2011;Immler et al 2011), mass-specific metabolic rate (Tourmente et al 2011b) and the degree of genetic divergence among subspecies and populations (Hogner et al 2013;Laskemoen et al 2013). Finally, sperm traits also appear to evolve as an adaptation to the female reproductive environment; sperm length is correlated with the length of sperm storage organs or their associated ducts in a variety of taxa (reviewed in Pitnick et al 2009), including birds (Briskie et al 1997).…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sperm also show considerable variation among subspecies and between populations of the same species in a range of taxa. For example, significant intraspecific differences in sperm length have been reported for Drosophila (Pitnick et al 2003), frogs (Hettyey and Roberts 2006), land snails (Minoretti and Baur 2006) and birds (Schmoll and Kleven 2010;Lüpold et al 2011;Hogner et al 2013;Laskemoen et al 2013). In fact, sperm cells are the most variable cell type known (Pitnick et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In birds, variable rates of evolutionary change in sperm size have been linked to variation in the intensity of postcopulatory sexual selection. For example, subspecies of Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) exhibit significant differences in sperm length, despite being a group of relatively 'young' taxa (c. 0.15-0.35 million years since divergence), and appear to experience relatively strong sperm competition (Hogner et al 2013). In contrast, sperm competition is presumed absent in both the Eurasian (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) and Azores (P. murina) Bullfinch, and sperm length does not differ between the sister species despite the longer time since divergence (c. 0.6-1.5 mya) (Töpfer et al 2011;Lifjeld et al 2013).…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Subspecific variation in sperm morphology and performance in the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda)

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Evolutionary biology endeavours to explain biological diversity, and as such it is critical to develop an understanding of the adaptive and functional significance of trait variation. Spermatozoa exhibit remarkable levels of morphological diversification. However, our understanding of the evolutionary causes and functional significance of this variation is limited, especially at the intraspecific level. Methods:We quantified variation in sperm morphology and performance between two subspecies of Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda acuticauda and P. a. hecki), a small grassfinch found in tropical northern Australia. Despite a zone of secondary contact, these subspecies are maintained as two distinct forms: P. a. acuticauda occurs in the western part of the species' range and has a yellow bill, while P. a. hecki exhibits a red bill and is found in the eastern part of the range. Results:We found small, but significant differences in sperm size between these subspecies (P. a. acuticauda had longer and narrower sperm than P. a. hecki), which was surprising given the recent evolutionary origins of these two taxa (i.e. 0.3 million years ago). Additionally, both subspecies exhibited high values of between-and within-male variation in sperm morphology, though in the case of sperm midpiece length this variation was significantly lower in P. a. acuticauda relative to P. a. hecki. Conclusions:We suggest these observed differences in sperm morphology are the result of genetic drift and reflect historical processes associated with divergence between the eastern and western populations of these two subspecies. Finally, we discuss the potential implications of our findings for the process of population divergence and reproductive isolation.

show abstract

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Subspecific variation in sperm morphology and performance in the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda)

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, barn swallow populations with higher rates of extrapair copulation have reduced variation in sperm morphology, likely due to increases in postcopulatory selection (Laskemoen et al 2013). Several other studies have documented cases of population-level variation in sperm morphology (Elgee et al 2010;Lüpold et al 2011;Stewart et al 2016), but on the whole, we know very little about how and why populations vary.…”

Section: Causes For Intraspecific and Population-level Variation In Smentioning

confidence: 89%

The Diversity, Plasticity, and Evolution of Sperm Morphology in Anolis Lizards

Kahrl

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sperm performance in conspecific and heterospecific female fluid

Cramer

Stensrud

Marthinsen

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Divergent sexual selection within allopatric populations may result in divergent sexual phenotypes, which can act as reproductive barriers between populations upon secondary contact. This hypothesis has been most tested on traits involved in precopulatory sexual selection, with less work focusing on traits that act after copulation and before fertilization (i.e., postcopulatory prezygotic traits), particularly in internally fertilizing vertebrates. However, postcopulatory sexual selection within species can also drive trait divergence, resulting in reduced performance of heterospecific sperm within the female reproductive tract. Such incompatibilities, arising as a by‐product of divergent postcopulatory sexual selection in allopatry, can represent reproductive barriers, analogous to species‐assortative mating preferences. Here, we tested for postcopulatory prezygotic reproductive barriers between three pairs of taxa with diverged sperm phenotypes and moderate‐to‐high opportunity for postcopulatory sexual selection (barn swallows Hirundo rustica versus sand martins Riparia riparia, two subspecies of bluethroats, Luscinia svecica svecica versus L. s. namnetum, and great tits Parus major versus blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus). We tested sperm swimming performance in fluid from the outer reproductive tract of females, because the greatest reduction in sperm number in birds occurs as sperm swim across the vagina. Contrary to our expectations, sperm swam equally well in fluid from conspecific and heterospecific females, suggesting that postcopulatory prezygotic barriers do not act between these taxon pairs, at this stage between copulation and fertilization. We therefore suggest that divergence in sperm phenotypes in allopatry is insufficient to cause widespread postcopulatory prezygotic barriers in the form of impaired sperm swimming performance in passerine birds.

show abstract

Rapid sperm evolution in the bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) subspecies complex

Cited by 33 publications

References 69 publications

Subspecific variation in sperm morphology and performance in the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda)

Subspecific variation in sperm morphology and performance in the Long-tailed Finch (Poephila acuticauda)

The Diversity, Plasticity, and Evolution of Sperm Morphology in Anolis Lizards

Sperm performance in conspecific and heterospecific female fluid

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About