Male fruit flies win genetic race with rivals in post-mating fertilization game
Scientists have accepted natural selection as a driver of evolution for more than 160 years, thanks to Charles Darwin.
But University of Cincinnati biologist Michal Polak says Darwin s book The Descent of Man only tells part of the story. Sometimes when the victor vanquishes his sexual rival, the quest to pass genes to the next generation is just beginning.
According to a new UC study published in the journal
Current Biology, male fruit flies with the most impressive sexual ornamentation also have super sperm that can outcompete that of rivals in the post-mating fertilization game.
Credit: Michal Polak/UC
Scientists have accepted natural selection as a driver of evolution for more than 160 years, thanks to Charles Darwin.
But University of Cincinnati biologist Michal Polak says Darwin s book The Descent of Man only tells part of the story. Sometimes when the victor vanquishes his sexual rival, the quest to pass genes to the next generation is just beginning.
According to a new UC study published in the journal
Current Biology, male fruit flies with the most impressive sexual ornamentation also have super sperm that can outcompete that of rivals in the post-mating fertilization game.
UC studied Drosophila bipectinata, a tiny red-eyed fruit fly from the South Pacific. The male s forelegs have a distinctive sex comb, dark bristles that female fruit flies find appealing like the colorful train of a male peacock. Scientists previously found that female flies prefer males with more robust sex combs, which the males use to grasp the female s abdomen before