Data from: Sex in the wild: how and why field-based studies contribute to solving the problem of sex
Why and how sexual reproduction is maintained in natural populations, the so-called “queen of problems”, is a key unanswered question in evolutionary biology. Recent efforts to solve the problem of sex have often emphasized results generated from laboratory settings. Here, we use a survey of represe...
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Zusammenfassung: | Why and how sexual reproduction is maintained in natural populations, the
so-called “queen of problems”, is a key unanswered question in
evolutionary biology. Recent efforts to solve the problem of sex have
often emphasized results generated from laboratory settings. Here, we use
a survey of representative “sex in the wild” literature to review and
synthesize the outcomes of empirical studies focused on natural
populations. Especially notable results included relatively strong support
for mechanisms involving niche differentiation and a near absence of
attention to adaptive evolution. Support for a major role of parasites is
largely confined to a single study system, and only three systems
contribute most of the support for mutation accumulation hypotheses. This
evidence for taxon specificity suggests that outcomes of particular
studies should not be more broadly extrapolated without extreme caution.
We conclude by suggesting steps forward, highlighting tests of niche
differentiation mechanisms in both lab and nature and empirical evaluation
of adaptive evolution-focused hypotheses in the wild. We also emphasize
the value of leveraging the growing body of genomic resources for
non-model taxa to address whether the clearance of harmful mutations and
spread of beneficial variants in natural populations proceeds as expected
under various hypotheses for sex. |
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DOI: | 10.5061/dryad.7312ks6 |