A general mechanism for conditional expression of exaggerated sexually-selected traits

Ian A. Warren, Hiroki Gotoh, Ian M. Dworkin, Douglas J. Emlen, Laura C. Lavine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

72 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sexually-selected exaggerated traits tend to be unusually reliable signals of individual condition, as their expression tends to be more sensitive to nutritional history and physiological circumstance than that of other phenotypes. As such, these traits are the foundation for many models of sexual selection and animal communication, such as "handicap" and "good genes" models. Exactly how expression of these traits is linked to the bearer's condition has been a central yet unresolved question, in part because the underlying physiological mechanisms regulating their development have remained largely unknown. Recent discoveries across animals as diverse as deer, beetles, and flies now implicate the widely conserved insulin-like signaling pathway, as a common physiological mechanism regulating condition-sensitive structures with extreme growth. This raises the exciting possibility that one highly conserved pathway may underlie the evolution of trait exaggeration in a multitude of sexually-selected signal traits across the animal kingdom.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)889-899
Number of pages11
JournalBioEssays
Volume35
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2013

Keywords

  • Condition
  • Exaggerated trait
  • Insulin-like signaling pathway
  • Sexual selection
  • Signal trait

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