Sperm competition: motility and the midpiece in primates.

Bibliographic Collection:

MOCA Reference, APE

Publication Type: Journal Article

Authors: Anderson, Matthew J; Dixson, Alan F

Year of Publication: 2002

Journal: Nature

Volume: 416

Issue: 6880

Pagination: 496

Date Published: 2002 Apr 4

Publication Language: eng

ISSN: 0028-0836

Keywords: Animals, Cell Size, Female, Male, Organ Size, Primates, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Species Specificity, Sperm Motility, Spermatozoa, Testis

Abstract:

In animals with multiple-partner mating systems, the gametes of two or more males must compete to fertilize a given set of ova. Here we show that the volume of the midpiece in individual sperm is significantly greater in primate species in which the females mate with multiple partners, and in which males have larger testes in relation to their body weight, than in those species that mate with only one partner and have relatively small testes. Our results indicate that sexual selection by sperm competition has influenced the evolution of a specific component of male-gamete morphology, the volume of the sperm midpiece.

DOI: 10.1038/416496a

Custom 1:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11932733?dopt=Abstract

Alternate Journal: Nature

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