RESUMEN
Co-evolutionary arms races have provided clear evidence for evolutionary change, especially in host-parasite systems. The evolution of host-specific races in the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), however, is also an example where sexual conflict influences the outcome. Cuckoo females benefit from better adaptation to overcome host defences, whereas cuckoo males face a trade-off between the benefits of better adaptation to a host and the benefits of multiple mating with females from other host-races. The outcome of this trade-off might be genetic differentiation or prevention of it by genetic swamping. We use a simulation model to test which outcome is more likely with three sympatric cuckoo host-races. We assume a cost for cuckoo chicks that express a host adaptation allele not suited to their foster host species and that cuckoo males that switch to another host-race experience either a fitness benefit or cost. Over most of the parameter space, cuckoo male host-race fidelity increases significantly with time, and gene flow between host-races ceases within a few thousand to a hundred thousand generations. Our results hence support the idea that common cuckoo host-races might be in the incipient stages of speciation.
Asunto(s)
Aves/genética , Especiación Genética , Modelos Genéticos , Adaptación Fisiológica , Animales , Aves/fisiología , Simulación por Computador , Femenino , Flujo Génico , Interacciones Huésped-Parásitos , Masculino , Comportamiento de Nidificación , Dinámica Poblacional , Conducta Sexual AnimalRESUMEN
Learning ability and immunity to parasites are linked at the physiological level in several insect species. The aim of this work was to investigate the relationship between learning and immunity at an evolutionary level. We tested whether selection for improved learning ability in Drosophila melanogaster led to changes in parasitoid resistance as a correlated response. Similarly, we assayed whether selection for better parasitoid resistance led to a change in learning ability. There was no significant difference between selected and control lines in either case; the estimated confidence intervals for the differences indicate that a trade-off relationship is unlikely.