Sexual selection: lessons from hermaphrodite mating systems

Abstract

Over the last 130 years, research has established that (a) sexual selection exists and is widespread in the plant and animal kingdoms; (b) it does not necessarily entail sexual dimorphism; even hermaphrodites have it; (c) it does not require intelligence or a sophisticated sense of esthetics; even tapeworms and plants choose mates; and (d) it does not require brawn or even mobility for competition; plants may compete for pollinators, and broadcast spawning invertebrates may also compete for matings. Although discussions of sexual selection often focus on sexual dimorphism, several phenomena that are commonly associated with sexual selection are widespread and highly developed in hermaphrodites. These phenomena include (a) bizarre and expensive courtship and copulatory behavior, (b) multiple mating and sperm competition, (c) rapid evolution of genitalia, (d) special structures associated with courtship, and (e) sexual polymorphism. The skewed breeding sex ratios associated with sequential hermaphroditism have long been recognized as contributory to sexual selection. In many simultaneous hermaphrodites, although the sex ratio at mating may be one to one, the actual reproductive sex ratio may also be skewed, creating a high potential for sexual selection. Reproductive biology in hermaphroditic taxa also involves a lot of complexity unknown in dioecious taxa, such as sex change, facultative sex allocation and conditional reciprocity that offers opportunities to enrich our understanding of sexual selection and to test the assumptions and predictions of theory.