Sexual selection in plants and animals: toward a unified framework.
Tonnabel J, David P, Janicke T.
Plant Signaling
Every flower in your garden is running a hidden competition: which pollen grain wins the race to fertilize an egg, and which plant's seeds get carried farthest—understanding these rules helps breeders and gardeners make sense of why some varieties outcompete others even when conditions seem equal.
Scientists have long studied how animals compete for mates—think peacock tails or stag antlers. This paper argues that plants do the same thing, just in less obvious ways: through pollen competition, flower design, and fruit production. The authors created a shared vocabulary and framework so researchers studying plants and animals can finally learn from each other.
Key Findings
The paper proposes a three-phase framework (premating, postmating, and postfertilization) that applies equally to plants and animals, providing a common language across taxa.
Traits unique to plants—like relying on bees or wind to move pollen and lacking direct physical contact between mates—do not disqualify plants from sexual selection; they simply represent new biological processes to investigate.
Inconsistent definitions of 'mating success' have been a primary barrier preventing plant and animal researchers from synthesizing findings, a problem this unified framework directly addresses.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers propose a unified three-phase framework for studying sexual selection—the competition to reproduce—that works for both plants and animals. This challenges the long-held assumption that plants, which can't move or choose mates directly, are somehow outside the rules of evolutionary competition.
Abstract Preview
Sexual selection is a cornerstone of evolutionary biology in animals but remains underexplored in plants, where empirical work is often disconnected from sexual selection theory. A major barrier to...
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