Sexual selection articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many of the theropod dinosaurs, the group including Tyrannosaurus rex, had bony ornamentation on their skulls. Here, Gates et al. show that such ornaments are associated with greater body size and accelerated body size evolution in theropods; however, these relationships are absent in the maniraptoriform dinosaurs, which had evolved pennaceous feathers.

    • Terry A. Gates
    • , Chris Organ
    •  & Lindsay E. Zanno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The acoustic properties of vocal signals generally depend on body size, but in some species males have traits that exaggerate the size conveyed by their vocal signals. Here, Charlton and Reby show that among terrestrial mammals, species with sexual selection for large male body size also have more exaggerated vocal signals for their size.

    • Benjamin D. Charlton
    •  & David Reby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Females tend to invest more than males in caring for offspring, which has been argued to be a consequence of the small initial difference in investment in eggs versus sperm. Here, Fromhage and Jennions formalize this argument mathematically in a model of the evolution of sex roles in parental care.

    • Lutz Fromhage
    •  & Michael D. Jennions

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In some species with internal fertilization, females can mate with multiple males and then manipulate which sperm fertilize the eggs. Here, Alonzo et al.find that by releasing ovarian fluid along with their eggs, female ocellated wrasse are able to influence paternity despite having external fertilization.

    • Suzanne H. Alonzo
    • , Kelly A. Stiver
    •  & Susan E. Marsh-Rollo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Male pheromones cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA) and (Z)-7-Tricosene (7-T) mediate chemical mate-guarding in female D. melanogaster. Here, Laturney and Billeter show that females actively eject cVA from their reproductive tract post-copulation, and that cVA in concert with 7-T can reduce female attractiveness post-mating.

    • Meghan Laturney
    •  & Jean-Christophe Billeter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many human societies transitioned from polygyny to socially imposed monogamy as group sizes increased. Using a simulation model, the authors show that sexually transmitted infections impose heavier fitness penalties on polygynists as group size grows, enabling monogamists who punish polygyny to thrive in large groups.

    • Chris T. Bauch
    •  & Richard McElreath

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In species in which females mate with multiple partners, sexual selection acts on male traits involved in mating and fertilization. Here, the authors show that selection acting before and after mating explains a significant component of variance in male reproductive fitness in a livebearing fish.

    • Alessandro Devigili
    • , Jonathan P. Evans
    •  & Andrea Pilastro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Complete sex chromosome dosage compensation is largely limited to male heterogametic species, with the majority of female heterogametic species displaying incomplete dosage compensation. Here, the authors show that sexual conflict over gene expression combined with sexual selection in males can explain this pattern.

    • Charles Mullon
    • , Alison E. Wright
    •  & Judith E. Mank

  • Article |

    Bird song is commonly seen as a male trait that plays a role in female attraction, but its origin and prevalence in females are unknown. Here, Odom et al.show that female song is widespread and that it was present in the common ancestor of modern songbirds.

    • Karan J. Odom
    • , Michelle L. Hall
    •  & Naomi E. Langmore

  • Article |

    Studies of male genitalia show patterns of divergent evolution, whereas females have been less well studied. Using experimental evolution and quantitative genetic analysis, Simmons and Garcia-Gonzalez show that sexual selection drives the coevolution of female and male genital morphology in the dung beetleOnthophagus taurus.

    • Leigh W. Simmons
    •  & Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez

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