A Mechanism of Extreme Growth and Reliable Signaling in Sexually Selected Ornaments and Weapons

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 337; no. 6096; pp. 860 - 864
• Main Authors: Emlen, Douglas J., Warren, Ian A., Johns, Annika, Dworkin, Ian, Lavine, Laura Corley
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 17.08.2012; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animal wings; Animals; antlers; Beetles; Biological and medical sciences; Biological evolution; birds; Body size; breeding; Breeding status; Cell growth; Coleoptera; Coleoptera - anatomy & histology; Coleoptera - genetics; Coleoptera - growth & development; Deer; Evolution; Fitness; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Genitalia; Growth traits; Horns; Horns - anatomy & histology; Horns - growth & development; insulin; Insulin - physiology; Insulin-like growth factors; Male; Male animals; Mating Preference, Animal; mechanistic models; Molecular Sequence Data; Online; Pathways; Phenotypic traits; Receptor, Insulin - genetics; Receptor, Insulin - physiology; Sexual selection; Signal Transduction; Somatomedins - physiology; Weapons; Insulin like growth factor; Vertebrata; Secondary sexual character; Sexual selection; Biological evolution; Morphology; Male; Invertebrata; Mechanism of action

Many male animals wield ornaments or weapons of exaggerated proportions. We propose that increased cellular sensitivity to signaling through the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway may be responsible for the extreme growth of these structures. We document how rhinoceros beetle horns, a...