Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/99618
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- Title
- Pronounced within-individual plasticity in sperm morphometry across social environments
- Related
- Evolution, Vol. 64, Issue 6 (2010), p.1634-1643
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00924.x
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date
- 2010
- FoR/RFCD Code(s)
-
060803 Animal Developmental and Reproductive Biology
060399 Evolutionary Biology not elsewhere classified
060201 Behavioural Ecology
- Author/Creator
- Immler, Simone
- Author/Creator
- Pryke, Sarah R
- Author/Creator
- Birkhead, Tim R
- Author/Creator
- Griffith, Simon C
- Description
- Sperm morphometry (i.e., size and shape) and function are important determinants of male reproductive success and are thought to be under stabilizing selection. However, recent studies suggest that sperm morphometry can be a phenotypically plastic trait, which can be adjusted to varying conditions. We tested whether different behavioral strategies in aggression between aggressive red and nonaggressive black males of the color polymorphic Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae) can influence spermmorphometry. We show pronounced within-individual phenotypic plasticity in sperm morphometry of male Gouldian finches in three different social environments. Both red and black males placed in intermediate to high competitive environments (high frequency of red males) increased the relative length of their sperm midpiece. By contrast, red males placed in low to intermediate competitive environments (higher frequency of black males) increased the length of the sperm flagellum. Significant changes in stress and sex steroid hormone levels (in response to the competitive environment) appear to influence sperm traits in red but not in black males, suggesting that changes in hormonal levels are not solely responsible for the observed changes in sperm morphometry. These findings imply that males can adjust sperm morphometry across social environments.
- Description
- 10 page(s)
- Subject Keyword
- 060803 Animal Developmental and Reproductive Biology
- Subject Keyword
- 060399 Evolutionary Biology not elsewhere classified
- Subject Keyword
- 060201 Behavioural Ecology
- Subject Keyword
- corticosteroid hormones
- Subject Keyword
- phenotypic plasticity
- Subject Keyword
- social hierarchy
- Subject Keyword
- sperm competition
- Subject Keyword
- sperm morphometry
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Organisation
- Macquarie University. Dept. of Brain, Behaviour and Evolution
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/99618
- Identifier
- ISSN:0014-3820
- Identifier
- mq-rm-2009010978
- Language
- eng
- Reviewed
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