Sperm competition as an under-appreciated factor in domestication

Hulme-Beaman, Ardern ORCID: 0000-0001-8130-9648, Searle, Jeremy B and Stockley, Paula (2018) Sperm competition as an under-appreciated factor in domestication. Biology Letters, 14 (3). 20180043-.

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Abstract

Humans created an environment that increased selective pressures on subgroups of those species that became domestic. We propose that the domestication process may in some cases have been facilitated by changes in mating behaviour and resultant sperm competition. By adapting to sperm competition, proto-domestic animals could potentially have outcompeted their wild counterparts in human-constructed niches. This could have contributed to the restriction of gene flow between the proto-domesticates and their wild counterparts, thereby promoting the fixation of other domestication characteristics. Further to this novel perspective for domestication, we emphasise the general potential of postcopulatory sexual selection in the restriction of gene flow between populations, and urge more studies.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sperm competition, cryptic female choice, mating behaviour, speciation, gene flow, domestication
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2018 06:35
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 06:37
DOI:	10.1098/rsbl.2018.0043
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3019394