A1 Journal article (refereed)
The logic of conventional and reversed Bateman gradients (2024)

Lehtonen, J., Parker, G. A., & Whittington, C. M. (2024). The logic of conventional and reversed Bateman gradients. Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences, 291(2034), Article 20242126. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.2126

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Lehtonen, Jussi; Parker, Geoff A.; Whittington, Camilla M.

Journal or series: Proceedings of the Royal Society B : Biological Sciences

ISSN: 0962-8452

eISSN: 1471-2954

Publication year: 2024

Publication date: 06/11/2024

Volume: 291

Issue number: 2034

Article number: 20242126

Publisher: Royal Society Publishing

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.2126

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/98272

Abstract

The Bateman gradient is a central concept in sexual selection theory that relates reproductive success to mate number, with important consequences for sex-specific selection. The conventional expectation is that Bateman gradients are steeper in males than females, implying that males benefit more from multiple mating than females do. This claim is supported by much empirical evidence as well as mathematical modelling. However, under some reproductive systems, reversed Bateman gradients are observed, perhaps most notably in syngnathid fishes with male pregnancy. Unlike conventional Bateman gradients, the causal basis of such reversed Bateman gradients has never been modelled mathematically. Here, we present a sex-neutral mathematical model demonstrating how restrictions in capacity for carrying or incubating gametes and embryos (brooding) interact with anisogamy, generating both conventional and reversed Bateman gradients from a single mathematical model. The results clearly demonstrate how anisogamy tends to cause conventional Bateman gradients, but diminishing male brooding capacity under male pregnancy or nesting causes a gradual reversal from conventional to fully ‘reversed’ Bateman gradients.

Keywords: sexual selection; gender roles; reproduction (biology); reproductive behaviour; evolutionary ecology; evolutionary biology; modelling (representation); theoretical research

Free keywords: Bateman gradients; sexual selection; sex roles; reversed Bateman gradients; reversed sex roles

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Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2024

Preliminary JUFO rating: 3