eprintid: 1524876
rev_number: 64
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/01/52/48/76
datestamp: 2016-11-07 13:05:59
lastmod: 2021-09-29 22:32:39
status_changed: 2018-01-26 14:23:51
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Opie, CF
creators_name: Brindle, M
title: Postcopulatory sexual selection influences baculum evolution in primates and carnivores
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B03
divisions: C03
divisions: F22
keywords: Baculum; Postcopulatory sexual selection; Prolonged intromission; Primates; Carnivores; Bayesian phylogenetics
note: © 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
abstract: The extreme morphological variability of the baculum across mammals is thought to be the result of sexual selection, particularly, high levels of postcopulatory selection. However, the evolutionary trajectory of the mammalian baculum is little studied and evidence for the adaptive function of the baculum has so far been elusive. Here we use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods implemented in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework to reconstruct baculum evolution across the mammalian class and investigate the rate of baculum length evolution within the primate order. We then test the effects of testes mass (postcopulatory sexual selection), polygamy, seasonal breeding and intromission duration on the baculum in primates and carnivores. The ancestral mammal did not have a baculum, but both ancestral primates and carnivores did. No relationship was found between testes mass and baculum length in either primates or carnivores. Intromission duration correlated with baculum presence over the course of primate evolution, and prolonged intromission predicts significantly longer bacula in extant primates and carnivores. Both polygamous and seasonal breeding systems predict significantly longer bacula in primates. These results suggest the baculum plays an important role in facilitating reproductive strategies in populations with high levels of postcopulatory sexual selection.
date: 2016-12-14
date_type: published
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1736
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1189910
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1736
lyricists_name: Brindle, Matilda-Jane
lyricists_name: Opie, Christopher
lyricists_id: MBRIN25
lyricists_id: COPIE78
actors_name: Opie, Christopher
actors_id: COPIE78
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
volume: 283
number: 1844
article_number: 20161736
citation:        Opie, CF;    Brindle, M;      (2016)    Postcopulatory sexual selection influences baculum evolution in primates and carnivores.                   Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 283  (1844)    , Article 20161736.  10.1098/rspb.2016.1736 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1736>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1524876/38/20161736.full.pdf
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1524876/2/Brindle_Opie_tables_figures_ESM.pdf