Multivariate genetic architecture of the Anolis dewlap reveals both shared and sex-specific features of a sexually dimorphic ornament.

Darwin viewed the ornamentation of females as an indirect consequence of sexual selection on males and the transmission of male phenotypes to females via the 'laws of inheritance'. Although a number of studies have supported this view by demonstrating substantial between-sex genetic covariance for ornament expression, the majority of this work has focused on avian plumage. Moreover, few studies have considered the genetic basis of ornaments from a multivariate perspective, which may be crucial for understanding the evolution of sex differences in general, and of complex ornaments in particular. Here, we provide a multivariate, quantitative-genetic analysis of a sexually dimorphic ornament that has figured prominently in studies of sexual selection: the brightly coloured dewlap of Anolis lizards. Using data from a paternal half-sibling breeding experiment in brown anoles (Anolis sagrei), we show that multiple aspects of dewlap size and colour exhibit significant heritability and a genetic variance-covariance structure (G) that is broadly similar in males (Gm ) and females (Gf ). Whereas sexually monomorphic aspects of the dewlap, such as hue, exhibit significant between-sex genetic correlations (rmf ), sexually dimorphic features, such as area and brightness, exhibit reduced rmf values that do not differ from zero. Using a modified random skewers analysis, we show that the between-sex genetic variance-covariance matrix (B) should not strongly constrain the independent responses of males and females to sexually antagonistic selection. Our microevolutionary analysis is in broad agreement with macroevolutionary perspectives indicating considerable scope for the independent evolution of coloration and ornamentation in males and females.

Signal diversification in Oecanthus tree crickets is shaped by energetic, morphometric, and acoustic trade-offs.

Physiology, physics, and ecological interactions can generate trade-offs within species, but may also shape divergence among species. We tested whether signal divergence in Oecanthus tree crickets is shaped by acoustic, energetic, and behavioral trade-offs. We found that species with faster pulse rates, produced by opening and closing wings up to twice as many times per second, did not have higher metabolic costs of calling. The relatively constant energetic cost across species is explained by trade-offs between the duration and repetition rate of acoustic signals-species with fewer stridulatory teeth closed their wings more frequently such that the number of teeth struck per second of calling and the resulting duty cycle were relatively constant across species. Further trade-offs were evident in relationships between signals and body size. Calling was relatively inexpensive for small males, permitting them to call for much of the night, but at low amplitude. Large males produced much louder calls, reaching up to four times more area, but the energetic costs increased substantially with increasing size and the time spent calling dropped to only 20% of the night. These trade-offs indicate that the trait combinations that arise in these species represent a limited subset of conceivable trait combinations.