Look at Fig1\'s bottom-right panel. A. In one sentence, what does this data sugg

Question

Look at Fig1's bottom-right panel.
A. In one sentence, what does this data suggest?
B. Do you find this data surprising? Explain your reasoning.

Fig1 uses data from 30-33 fathers and 120-124 mothers. Why are there more mothers than fathers? (Hint: red deer are polygynous, which is the kind of mating system with alpha males and harems of females.)

Evolutionary theory predicts the depletion of genetic variation in natural populations as a result of the effects of selection, but genetic variation is nevertheless abundant for many traits that are under directional or stabilizing selection'. Evolutionary geneti- cists commonly try to explain this paradox with mechanisms that lead to a balance between mutation and selection2. However, theoretical predictions of equilibrium genetic variance under mutation-selection balance are usually lower than the observed values, and the reason for this is unknown'. The potential role of sexually antagonistic selection in maintaining genetic variation has received little attention in this debate, surprisingly given its potential ubiquity in dioecious organisms. At fitness-related loci, a given genotype may be selected in opposite directions in the two sexes. Such sexually antagonistic selection will reduce the otherwise- expected positive genetic correlation between male and female fit- ness'. Both theorys7 and experimental data 12 suggest that males and females of the same species may have divergent genetic optima, but supporting data from wild populations are still scarce3-15. Here we present evidence for sexually antagonistic fitness variation in a natural population, using data from a long-term study of red deer (Cervus elaphus). We show that male red deer with relatively high fitness fathered, on average, daughters with relatively low fitness This was due to a negative genetic correlation between estimates of fitness in males and females. In particular, we show that selection favours males that carry low breeding values for female fitness Our results demonstrate that sexually antagonistic selection can lead to a trade-off between the optimal genotypes for males and females; this mechanism will have profound effects on the opera tion of selection and the maintenance of genetic variation in natural populations.

Explanation / Answer

A) this data suggested that male and female contribute unequally to offspring genetic diversity in the polygynous mating system of red beer.

B) In polygynous system male mate with multiple female thats why here in our data mothers are more than father.

This data suggest that female contribute more genetic diversity than males because low number of reproductive male and high variance of male reproductive success.

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