While females produce only a few gametes, males produce a vast amount. Bateman's principle states that males' reproductive potential is restricted by their access to females, while female's reproductive potential is limit by the number of resources available to nourish the gamete. Therefore, females are selective in order to have the best mating option while males compete for mating partners. Striking colors, morphological differences, and behaviors are some of the traits that lead to a female's choice.
Like seahorses, male pipefishes are the ones who give birth to their offspring. Given that, we can presume Bateman's principle applies in a reverse way. Males produce only a few gametes and are selective in their mating choice while females produce many gametes and compete for males.
Females with traits that lead to mating will pass their traits to the next gene pool, and their offspring will have higher fitness.
Source:
https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/sexual-selection-13255240/
Hi Victoria! I think you did a great job describing Bateman's principle and how it is acting in reverse in the pipefish! I think this was great, straightforward blog post.
ReplyDeleteI saw the same thing, and I like how you used Bateman's principle to explain the concepts here. It's true that both males and females produce gametes (eggs and sperm), but I think the biggest investment here is energy when it comes to the males. In most species it's the females who contribute the most energy to raising offspring. Because of the reverse happening here, sexual selection can act against dull females and result in brighter colors. Great post!
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