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Bateman–Trivers in the 21st Century: sexual selection in a North American pitviper
Authors:Brenna A Levine  Charles F Smith  Gordon W Schuett  Marlis R Douglas  Mark A Davis  Michael E Douglas
Institution:1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA;2. Department of Biology, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, USA;3. The Copperhead Institute, Spartanburg, SC, USA;4. Chiricahua Desert Museum, Rodeo, NM, USA;5. Department of Biology and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA;6. Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, USA
Abstract:Assessment of sexual selection in organisms with cryptic life histories is challenging, although accurate parentage assignments using genotypic markers, combined with behavioural observations and a method to account for open population bias, allow for robust estimation of metrics. In the present study, we employed 22 tetranucleotide microsatellite DNA loci to interpret mating and reproductive success in a population of Copperhead (Viperidae, Agkistrodon contortrix) in Connecticut, USA. We sampled DNA from 114 adults (56 males, 58 females) and 137 neonates from known mothers to quantify Bateman gradients (βss), as well as sex‐specific opportunities for selection (I) and sexual selection (Is). We also estimated selection on male size snout‐to‐vent length (SVL)], a trait important for successful combat and subsequent copulations. Estimates of male I and Is differed significantly from those of females when estimated with four different methods and only males had a significant Bateman gradient. As predicted, male reproductive success was positively correlated with increasing SVL. These results contrast with those derived in another study investigating the same population but based solely on observational data and without correction for open population bias. We thus argue that molecular approaches to quantifying reproductive success and strength of sexual selection provide more accurate results than do behavioural observations alone. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 114 , 436–445.
Keywords:Agkistrodon contortrix  Bateman's principles  copperhead  male body size  mating systems  reproductive success
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