A mating war in diving beetles has stopped the evolution of species
Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 06:20
in Biology & Nature
In nature, male attempts to mate with females can be so extreme that they can harm the females. Such negative impacts of mating interactions have been suggested to promote the emergence of new species under some circumstances. Surprisingly, one type of diving beetle species now shows that this conflict between the sexes can instead lead to an evolutionary standstill in which mating enhances traits in males and fosters counter-adaptations in females, preventing the formation of new species.