Sexual ornaments, body morphology, and swimming performance in naturally hybridizing swordtails (Teleostei: Xiphophorus)
| Autor: | Courtney N. Passow, Danielle C. Macedo, Gil G. Rosenthal, James B. Johnson |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Physiology
Fish species lcsh:Medicine Marine and Aquatic Sciences Zoology Morphology (biology) Cyprinodontiformes Sexual Behavior Animal Animals Biomechanics 14. Life underwater lcsh:Science Swimming Hybrid Evolutionary Biology Teleostei Multidisciplinary Ecology biology lcsh:R Ecology and Environmental Sciences Organisms Biology and Life Sciences Aquatic Environments Ornaments Xiphophorus Xiphophorus malinche biology.organism_classification Phenotype Earth Sciences Trait lcsh:Q Anatomy Locomotion Research Article |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 10, p e109025 (2014) |
| Popis: | Determining the costs of sexual ornaments is complicated by the fact that ornaments are often integrated with other, non-sexual traits, making it difficult to dissect the effect of ornaments independent of other aspects of the phenotype. Hybridization can produce reduced phenotypic integration, allowing one to evaluate performance across a broad range of multivariate trait values. Here we assess the relationship between morphology and performance in the swordtails Xiphophorus malinche and X. birchmanni, two naturally-hybridizing fish species that differ extensively in non-sexual as well as sexual traits. We took advantage of novel trait variation in hybrids to determine if sexual ornaments incur a cost in terms of locomotor ability. For both fast-start and endurance swimming, hybrids performed at least as well as the two parental species. The sexually-dimorphic sword did not impair swimming performance per se. Rather, the sword negatively affected performance only when paired with a sub-optimal body shape. Studies seeking to quantify the costs of ornaments should consider that covariance with non-sexual traits may create the spurious appearance of costs. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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