Integrating Perspectives on Rodent Sperm Competition

Ramm, SA and Stockley, P (2016) Integrating Perspectives on Rodent Sperm Competition. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR, VOL 48, 48. pp. 443-501.

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Abstract

Rodents have long been recognised as an ideal model group for studying vertebrate sperm competition, since they exhibit very wide diversity in mating systems and are amenable to both experimental and comparative research approaches. From a strong initial focus on copulatory behaviour and patterns of paternity, a new generation of studies is now revealing adaptive variation in diverse male reproductive traits, aided by methodological advances that most recently include post-genomic approaches. Here we aim to assess the current state of knowledge about rodent sperm competition, and demonstrate how recent progress is building a more integrated view of the evolution of male reproductive phenotypes. Surveying research across six key male reproductive traits – copulatory behaviour, sperm production, sperm allocation, sperm quality, seminal fluid and genitalia – our review reveals a rich catalogue of male adaptations to sperm competition in rodents. Recent molecular and genome-based approaches are already transforming our understanding of these traits, closing the gap between genotypic and phenotypic perspectives on their adaptive evolution. Significant future challenges lie in integrating female roles in post-copulatory sexual selection, and in judging the relative importance of the myriad male adaptations to sperm competition, both in relation to one another in determining competitive fertilization ability, and compared to other sexually selected traits in explaining differential reproductive success.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	issn: 978-0-12-802276-4
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2016 09:08
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2022 16:41
DOI:	10.1016/bs.asb.2016.02.003
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/2050879