BIO318Y5 Lecture 6: 2nd half Lecture 6
Document Summary
Slide 1 male battles and the evolution of sneaky sex: Assessing the social environment & phenotypic plasticity selective maintenance of alternative phenotypes. Male battles and the evolution of sneaky sex. Scarabs roll dung into sphere to lay their eggs into it! When fruits are available to monkeys, dung is high quality. However, when only leaves are available, dung is of low quality: two male types: if larger than most rivals, guard female; if smaller than most rivals, sneak matings. There is only a main burrow entrance that the resident male guards. But, sneakers can enter by digging a side burrow. Weaponry associated with male size: males either have large horn or tiny horn. Males beetle larvae monitor their social environment while they are still in the dung to choose whether to grow big or small horns depending on size of their rivals! Small beetles will be sneakers and they develop because they don"t have nutritional food to develop.