An experimental study on the interaction between inbreeding and assortative mating in the process of speciation : Assortative mating and inbreeding

• In the process of speciation, assortative mating and its costs in terms of possible inbreeding depression play a central and sometimes critical role. Despite this fact, given the numerous models on assortative mating, and the rich theory and empirical data on inbreeding at hand, studies of the interaction between the two are essentially missing. This study experimentally explores the interaction of inbreeding and assortative mating in the process of speciation. We show that in small populations of the bean weevil, Callosobruchus maculatus, signs of inbreeding depression, such as reduced female fecundity, decreased juvenile hatching success, changed hatched offspring sex ratio, and extinction develop in relation to assortative mating. We also show that in these inbred populations, the mating system changes in terms of a reduced tendency to mate assortatively.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Assortative mating; inbreeding; speciation; Callosobruchus maculatus; experiment

Biology

Biologi

Biologi med inriktning mot zooekologi

Biology with specialization in Animal Ecology

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

ovr (subject category)